


A Lab Outside of Gravity Falls, OR (HLVRAI-Gravity Falls crossover)

by carpet_snark



Category: Gravity Falls, HLVRAI - Fandom, Half-Life but the AI is Self Aware, half life but the ai is self aware
Genre: Crossover, Crossovers & Fandom Fusions, Gravity Falls References, Gravity Falls Spoilers, Half-Life VR But the AI is Self-Aware, Light Angst, My First Fanfic, Nonbinary Benrey (Half-Life), Some Humor, Swearing, They/Them Pronouns for Benrey (Half-Life)
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-11-22
Updated: 2021-03-06
Packaged: 2021-03-09 18:28:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 25,212
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27670691
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/carpet_snark/pseuds/carpet_snark
Summary: When 17-year-old Gordon Freeman is shipped out to the middle of nowhere, Oregon, he's expecting a quiet summer. He makes fast friends with the mayor's son, Tommy, and is slowly endearing himself to the family friend he's staying with, Dr. Bubby (which cannot be his real name, but no matter). But something about the town feels off. Bubby is slipping away to work on something in the middle of the night, the Coolatta family doesn't seem entirely human, and there's an air of mystery over the town. Things go south fast when he finally figures out what Bubby's been up to, and they nearly bring the world to a bizarre end. Through some miracle, the world is saved, and Gordon leaves Gravity Falls.Ten years later, Gordon returns to GF to reunite with old friends. He's tailed by a stranger named Benrey, and things become stranger when they all become trapped in the town. Trouble is afoot, and the source of it seems to be the new person in their midst.
Relationships: Bubby & Dr. Coomer (Half-Life)
Comments: 12
Kudos: 25





	1. Prologue: Weirdmageddon

Prologue: _Weirdmageddon_

Our setting: _Gravity Falls, OR._

Our cast of characters:

  * _Gordon Freeman, age 17, rising high school senior._


  * _Tommy Coolatta, age 26, mayor’s son._


  * _Dr. Bubby [REDACTED], age 63, owner of the Mystery Shack._


  * _Dr. Harold P. Coomer, age 61, MIA._


  * _Darnold Pepper, age 28, employee at the Mystery Shack._


  * _Forzen Nice, age 34, employee at the Mystery Shack._


  * _Mayor Coolatta, age [REDACTED], Gravity Falls mayor._


  * _Ben Cipher, age [REDACTED], otherworldly deity._


  * _Sunkist, a pig._



Gordon’s parents had said that they sent him away to the Middle of Nowhere, Oregon, in order to foster his love of physics. The family friend, a near stranger to him, that they were shipping him out to used to be a physicist. “Used to,” being the crucial point. In reality, he thought they just wanted a summer to themselves. No matter. He could use one, too. As the Greyhound bus rumbled along a dirt road, he stared out the window, catching a glimpse of a wooden sign peeking over the pine trees.

“Welcome to Gravity Falls.”

The run-down nature of the sign didn’t bode well for the state of the town itself. Gordon was snapped out of his musings as the bus squealed to a stop.

“Last stop, Gravity Falls. End of the line, everyone off,” the driver barked.

Gordon looked around. He was the only one on the bus. He’d been the only one on the bus for nearly an hour. Hefting his dufflebag and grabbing the handle of his suitcase, he managed to struggle off the bus. Before he could turn to thank the driver, the doors closed and the bus kicked up a cloud of dust as it drove off. He coughed, waving away the dust and looking around. The family friend was supposed to pick him up from the bus stop, but there was no one. Typical. Fantastic way to start the day. At least he knew where he needed to go, and someone around was bound to know the way. With a quick scan of the surroundings, he spotted a man walking past the stop. He walked, as fast as he was able, up to him.

“Howdy? Excuse me?”

The man turned. The first thing that struck Gordon were his peculiar eyes. They were a very light brown, almost yellow, and seemed to reflect the light far more than they should. The rest of him looked relatively normal: olive skin dotted with a few freckles, brown hair, and a lanky frame that stood at least half a foot taller than Gordon. He looked up to see into the man’s face more clearly.

“Hi there! Can I help you?” His voice was cheery and high pitched.

“Uh… yeah, hi. I just got off the bus, and someone was supposed to-- nevermind. Do you know how to get to the Mystery Shack from here?”

“Oh, of course. I-- I can lead you there if you want! One of my friends works there, and I-- I haven’t seen him in a while.”

“I… would appreciate that, actually,” Gordon said, with a smile.

“Okay! M-My name’s Tommy, by the way.”

“Gordon. Gordon Freeman.”

The two shook hands. The man, Tommy (apparently), started down a street. Gordon followed, lugging his luggage behind him. He raised an eyebrow as the street dead-ended into a much more rugged path into the woods. The pine trees had wooden signs nailed to their trunks, leading the way deeper into the forest. They walked over a bridge and through more trees, until the forest opened up into a large clearing. In the center was a large wooden house, with a huge sign positioned on one of the roofs.

“Mystery Shack.”

Gordon looked up at it. “Well, this is it. Thanks for the help, Tommy.”

“No problem! Why did you want to find it, M-Mr. Freeman?”

Mr. Freeman? Oddly formal, but no matter. 

“I’m actually supposed to be staying here this summer. Owner’s a family friend, and he agreed to take me. He was actually the one who was supposed to--”

There was a huge crash from the inside of the shack, followed by a slew of profanity, some words that Gordon had never even heard before. The front door slammed open and someone stormed out, smoking. Quite literally.

“Goddamned motherfucking piece of shit cash register! Old ass piece of fuck! Blowing up in my fucking face, I didn’t even know it could goddamn do that! Fuck!!” he barked, kicking the door shut indignantly. He spun around and stopped, taking in the two standing in front of him.

“Gordon?” he asked.

“Uh… yeah.”

“Hello, Professor Bubby!” Tommy smiled and waved.

“Doctor,” he snipped. “What are you doing here, Tommy?”

“I-- I’m here to see Darnold. Is he working today?”

Bubby gestured to the door, and Tommy walked inside, leaving the others outside.

“Sorry that I wasn’t able to come pick you up. I had some… complications. As you can see.” He wiped some of the soot from his face.

“Yeah… it’s okay. Tommy led me here,” Gordon replied.

Bubby walked down the stairs and up to him, placing a hand on his shoulder. His expression softened.

“Goddamn,” he said, “look at you. Last time I saw you, you were just over a foot tall. You’re almost a grown man now!”

Gordon chuckled. “Yeah, I guess. It’s good to see you. Or… meet you? I kind of remember you.”

Bubby reached down and grabbed the handle of the dufflebag, attempting to lift it. He gave up in the same second.

“Fucking hell! Did you pack bricks? I give up, you can carry your own shit.”

Gordon hefted the bag into the house, following the clicking of Bubby’s cane upstairs.

* * * * *

God, why this summer? Why, of all summers, this one? Gordon would complicate things, but Bubby couldn’t exactly tell the Freemans that. There would be questions. Questions he couldn’t answer. After three years of trying, he wasn’t any closer to fixing it. This thought weighed heavy on his mind as he combed through the second journal for what felt like the thousandth time.

“Fucking hell, Harold, could you _take_ less helpful notes?” he muttered to no one. He held a UV light above the pages, but the hidden notes weren’t any more useful. Frustrated now, he threw the book across the room, where it crashed into a stack of cds. Heavy metal. He crossed his arms and slumped down in his chair.

Gordon was asleep. He couldn’t hear Bubby begin to pace around the room, cursing to himself. Thinking out loud as profanely as he could.

“You could’ve just put the schematics into one fucking book, but no! You had to be _special_. Three journals, why the fuck not? Make it a million times fucking harder for anyone who wants to use your shit research!” He sat back down in the overstuffed chair, huffing. His voice softened as he looked over at a framed photo on his nightstand. 

“What am I supposed to do, Harold?”

But the room was silent. Bubby stood up to retrieve the journal from where it had landed, nestled in a pile of cds. It had opened to a page that he’d never given much thought to before, but now it gave him cause to pause.

The page was titled “Creature #326,” and it was covered in strange drawings. Not unlike the rest of the book. It wasn’t what was there, but what was missing, that stood out to him. There was no name. Hardly any information. Just a few frantic scribbles and equations to accompany the strange glyphs. The second page of the spread was titled “Summoning,” and it was far more detailed. He sat down on the floor, cross legged, to read it more closely. It all seemed simple enough. What could go wrong? 

It took him three days to get everything ready. In the middle of the night, by the light of the moon, he walked to a clearing in the forest. He grabbed a large stick and started drawing the glyphs on the ground, ripping up the dirt. Next, candles. Then the framed photo. He held the book in front of him, glancing down at the photo briefly.

“...well, Harold. Here goes nothing. Triangulum, entangulum. Meteforis dominus ventium. Meteforis venetisarium!” His eyes began to glow blue behind his glasses, and his mind swirled as something took control of his vocal cords. “ _Asetnoheptus Asetnoheptus Asetnoheptus Asetnoheptus Asetnoheptus_.” His voice came out in a strangled whisper, and the world slowed to a stop. The birds in the sky, the leaves drifting from the trees, everything was frozen in time. The forest went gray, all color draining out.

He collapsed to his knees, shaking hands on top of his cane. Out of breath. He knew there was now a being in the forest before him, but he couldn’t bring himself to look up.

“Yo. It’s uh… Ben Cipher.”

Bubby looked up. Before him floated the entity that was drawn in the journals. Round and 2D, with one huge glowing eye. A beanie floated above their head, and their arms and legs hung down, still a few feet above the ground.

“Uh… hello,” he said, straightening up.

“Sooo, you were the one who summoned me.” Lip smack. “Whatcha want?”

He took a moment to collect himself. “Shit… I’ve only found two of these,” he said, holding the journal up in front of him. “I need the third one to do what I need to do. I’ve been trying for three fucking years, but I can’t find the goddamn thing.”

“That it? Pog.” They held out a hand, glowing teal bubbles starting to sprout from it.

Bubby held out his hand to shake, but paused. 

“What do I owe you.”

“Ah, smart guy. Lil’ uh, lil’ smarty pants over here,” they said, retracting their hand. “I dunno man, uh.” Lip smack. “Maybe you’ll just owe me a favor. For later or somethin’. Cause uh, I got nothing right now.”

“...Deal.” He shook their hand, the teal bubbles swirling around him. And then they were gone. The world was returned to color, the Earth began to spin once more, and in his hands he held a book.

The third journal.

* * * * *

Gordon sat in bed, wide awake. He could hear Bubby walking around downstairs, like he had every night beforehand. It was just concerning at first, but now it was suspicious. Very suspicious. He threw the blanket off, his feet thudding quietly on the floor as he stood up. The stairs creaked as he walked down them, freezing as he heard the squeal of hinges. He huddled down behind the railing, watching.

The vending machine slid open, and Bubby creeped out from behind it. He closed it quietly, punching in a code to lock it. 

“What…?” Gordon whispered to himself. He darted back up the stairs before Bubby could spot him, ducking under the covers. 

He made his way to Tommy’s house first thing in the morning. Bubby didn’t give him more than a passing glance as he ran out the door, too tired to care. The Coolattas’ house was in the middle of the town, near the statue of the town founder. It was modest enough, if well kept up, and had a high fence to hide it from the street. Gordon unlatched the gate and was attacked by a blur of pink and brown which knocked the wind out of him. He blinked, dazed, and looked up at the thing which had knocked him down. The pig that had bodyslammed him sat down on his chest, looking down at him.

“M-Mr. Freeman!” Tommy ran up to him, holding a leash. “I-- I’m so sorry, she’s just excited to see you.”

Gordon sat up, groaning. The pig jumped off of him and ran into Tommy’s arms.

“It’s cool, Tommy,” he said. “Hey, Sunkist.”

Oink.

Tommy held out a hand and helped him up with a sheepish smile. “What are you doing here so early? I-- I just got back from her morning walk.”

Gordon’s face went stony. “There’s… something I need your help with. Something serious. But I can’t talk here, it’s too private.”

“Oh… okay. I-- I just need to tell my dad where I’ll be. Be right back!” He ran up the stairs and into the house, Sunkist trotting in behind him. After a few minutes, he walked back out, tailed by a tall man in a crisp suit. His face was peculiarly shadowed, and his eyes glinted blue under his half-lidded gaze. Gordon gave a sheepish wave.

“Hello, Mayor Coolatta.”

The man gestured for Gordon to walk closer. “Mr. Freeman,” he began. “Is, my son. In danger? Are you putting him, in danger? My son, if he is in danger, the consequences for you will be, unpleasant.”

“No, sir, I would never.”

The mayor’s gaze darkened. “Are, you. In danger?”

Gordon stared at his feet. “That I’m not sure of.”

“Well. Just, remember, you have. My support. If you, need it.”

“Thank you, sir.”

Tommy left his father’s side and walked over to the gate, opening it. Gordon followed, closing the gate behind them.

The two were quiet on the walk back to the woods, Tommy glancing sideways at Gordon nervously. When they walked into the forest, he finally broke the silence.

“So, w-what is it? What’s going on?”

Taking a deep breath, he went on to describe what he saw the previous night. Tommy listened, nodding. He was clearly thinking hard about what Gordon said.

“I’m just… what does he have to hide? And what is he working on every night? He’s been acting strangely recently.” He sighed, looking up at Tommy. “I dunno. I just feel like he’s hiding something bad.”

“I-- I see.”

As the approached the Mystery Shack, they slowed. The shop was empty of customers, as usual, and Darnold looked up from the counter as they walked inside. Bubby was nowhere to be seen.

“Hi Darnold!” Tommy beamed.

“Oh, hey Tommy. Gordon. What do you guys need?”

“Is Bubby around?” Gordon asked, avoiding the question.

“I don’t think so. I haven’t seen him in a few hours. Why? Did you need him for something?”

“The opposite, really. There’s… something he’s been hiding.”

Darnold raised an eyebrow. “What do you mean?”

“It’d be easier to show you…”

Gordon slowly approached the vending machine, Tommy and Darnold trailing behind. After thinking for a moment, he remembered the code he’d seen Bubby use the previous night, and punched it in.

The machine popped out of the wall and slid open with a hiss. Behind it was a set of dim stairs. The three exchanged a worried glance, and Darnold grabbed a flashlight from the counter, handing it to Gordon. He flicked it on.

“Well… here goes nothing.”

“Be careful, M-Mr. Freeman.”

His feet thudded duly on the concrete steps, and the light shook in his hand. The steps dead-ended into a small room, covered in metal panels. There was a control panel, hidden by two huge metal shields, covered in scribbled notes. The three couldn’t stop to focus on the room, however, because what was beyond the door was far more important. A door on one wall opened into a larger room, light beaming out from it.

“Do we go check it out?” Gordon whispered.

“No other choice, I guess,” Darnold replied, shrugged.

Gordon flicked the light off, creeping towards the open door. The other two trailed behind, huddled down. Peeking around the doorframe, he choked back a gasp.

Bubby stood, hands outstretched, in front of a great glowing portal. It threw rainbow light around the huge cavern, and it’s humming was so loud that it rattled Gordon to his bones. The flashlight slipped out of his hand as he ran forwards into the room. Tommy and Darnold followed but he couldn’t hear them.

“Bubby! What the hell is going on?” Gordon shouted over the sound of the machine.

He turned to face the three of them, his eyebrows shooting up in alarm.

“Gordon! Tommy, Darnold! What the fuck are you doing here? How the shit did you even get in here?” 

“D-Dr. Bubby! What is that thing?”

“You have to bail! It’s way too fucking dangerous down here!”

Gordon set his jaw. “Not until you tell us what’s going on!”

“Goddamnit, Gordon, we don’t have time! You need to go before it--”

The room shook as the machine sent out a shock wave, throwing all of them backwards. Gordon’s head slammed into the wall, his vision going black at the edges as the scene before him faded in and out of focus. His eyes snapped wide open as the gravity in the room changed. His stomach rose into his throat as he floated above the ground. Everything came down just as quickly, and a shadowy figure stepped out from the portal.

“What…? Who is that?” Gordon said, blinking and trying to clear the spots from his vision.

“The author of the journals…” Bubby replied under his breath. “My best friend.”

The man pulled the heavy scarf away from his face, placing his goggles on the top of his head. His sparse hair was stark white, and his moustache wasn’t enough to hide his stony expression. Bubby struggled to his feet, walking towards the man as if in a trance. His glasses hid the tears starting to form.

“Harold… is it really you? After all these years?”

“Hello, Professor Bubby!” the man chirped, before punching Bubby squarely in the face. The punch threw his head back and sent him falling to his knees.

“Ah, what the fuck? Holy shit, Harold! You’re _welcome_ , by the way!”

“Reopening the portal was very dangerous, professor. You shouldn’t have done it.”

“Doctor.” Bubby grumbled as he stood up, wiping the blood from his nose. “What was I supposed to do? Just fucking leave you in there?”

“Yes.”

Bubby opened his mouth to rebut, but Gordon cleared his throat, interrupting the heated reunion.

“Uh… hello. Would someone care to tell me what’s happening?”

“A-Are you okay, Dr. Bubby?” Tommy walked over to him, fussing over his quickly bruising face.

“M’fine.”

The man approached Gordon slowly, looking him over with bright green eyes. After a beat, he smiled and held out a hand.

“Hello! My name is Doctor Coomer!”

“Gordon Freeman,” he said, shaking his hand.

“Hello Gordon!” He turned back to Bubby, who was glaring daggers at him. “Now then. What are we going to do about all this?”

* * * * *

Coomer placed the rift down on the shabby kitchen table with a thunk.

“Good work, Gordon!” he chirped. “With this, we can keep Ben out of our physical world. Now, let’s go find Bubby and Tommy to see if they’ve been able to gather any unicorn hair.”

“You go ahead, I need to sit down…” Gordon replied, slumping into one of the kitchen chairs. Examining his scrapes and scratches, he sighed. They’d gotten the rift and gotten out alive, but barely. Coomer’d nearly gotten kidnapped and taken to an alien prison, and Gordon still hadn’t had the time to process everything that happened. He leaned forwards, head in his hands. Headache. Damn.

A cautious touch on his shoulder.

“M-Mr. Freeman?”

He jumped a bit, looking up. “Ah, hey Tommy,” he said.

“Are you okay? You two look pretty bad, what happened? I-- I was worried.”

“Listen, we- I don’t wanna talk about it, man. We got the thing, and we didn’t die, so…”

Tommy clearly wanted to press him, but he didn’t. His face lit up as he changed the subject. “I-- I got the unicorn hair! Forzen helped. They were a li-little aggressive with the unicorns, but… it did work.”

“That’s good.”

Dr. Coomer walked back into the kitchen, Bubby in tow. 

“Hello Gordon! Hello Tommy.” He walked over to the rift and picked it up, examining it. “Ah, I see you were able to get the rift. Good job.”

Gordon just smiled. He’d gotten used to Coomer’s forgetful nature, and it was charming at times. Really, it was no harm. 

“Everything work out well with the unicorn hair?” Gordon asked.

“Quite well. We will now be safe from Ben’s antics,” Coomer replied.

Bubby grumbled under his breath, something about “bedazzling my fucking house,” and “goddamned coked up rainbows.”

When Gordon looked back at the rift on the table, he couldn’t help but feel an inescapable sense of dread.

Every day since, the feeling had compounded. Three days after their spaceship exploration, Gordon couldn’t go five minutes without looking over his shoulder. He couldn’t sleep well anymore, not managing to stay under for more than a few hours. The rift remained in his bag, which he kept on him at all times. Every few minutes, he looked inside his bag to check if it was still intact. He was doing so during lunch when Tommy finally noticed.

“Mr. Freeman.”

“Huh?” Gordon closed his bag, looking up at him.

“Are you doing okay? I-- I’m worried. You don’t look so good.” Tommy put his soda can down.

“What? I’m fine, why wouldn’t I be?” he asked, forcing a smile.

“Mr. Freeman… y-you look like you haven’t slept in days.”

Gordon sighed. “Actually… that’s not too far off.” He hesitated before speaking again, “It’s this damn rift. I know that I can keep it safe, but I feel like I have to look over my shoulder every minute. I’m losing sleep over this thing.”

Tommy drummed his fingers on the table, thinking. “Well, I-- I can take care of it if you need me to. Dad has a safe where he keeps all the town’s important documents,” he said after a beat.

“I dunno…” Gordon took the rift out and stared at it. He tightened his grip unconsciously as Tommy reached for it. “I’d have to ask Dr. Coomer. He knows more about it than I do.”

“Come on, M-Mr. Freeman. Don’t you trust me?”

Gordon stared into Tommy’s eyes, and he felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand up. He thought he’d become used to the Coolattas’ otherworldly presence, but this felt different. It felt acidic and evil. As he considered the rift, his heart thudded in his ears.

But as he stared into Tommy’s open, friendly face, he just couldn’t say no.

“...of course I trust you.” His hand shook as he handed the rift over. As soon as he passed it to Tommy, the weight he’d been carrying lifted. He could breathe again.

“Don’t worry, Mr. Freeman,” Tommy said, pocketing the rift. “I-- I won’t let anything happen to it.”

Tommy left the Mystery Shack just as it was beginning to grow dark. He knew his dad would be worried if he wasn’t home before nightfall, and Sunkist needed her evening walk. As the trod along the forest path, he pulled the rift out of his pocket. 

He sucked in a gasp as the forest went blurry. His blood pounded in his ears, and his head hurt like hell. The tiny voice in the back of his head, which had led him to ask Gordon for it, was back. It was louder now. He couldn’t hear anything, he couldn’t even hear himself think. Slowly, he raised his arm.

“No…” the word came out in a strangeled whisper. He tried to pull his arm back down, but his body was frozen. It was out of his control.

Something was in his head. The same voice, telling him to smash the rift to bits.

His arm came down.

The rift hit the ground.

The glass shattered.

Tommy screamed as his eyes glowed yellow, and his head felt like it was going to explode. A laugh, a horrible, horrible laugh, filled his ears. It was the last thing he heard before collapsing to the ground.

Gordon, Bubby, and Dr. Coomer were eating dinner when they heard the shattering from inside, followed by the far louder sound of Tommy’s body hitting the ground. 

“What the fuck was that?” Bubby said, walking over to the door. 

Gordon followed, pushing past him and rushing out when he saw the scene outside. “Tommy!”

“Oh dear.” Dr. Coomer quickly followed, Bubby tailing him.

“Tommy, what happened? Are you okay?” Gordon asked, kneeling beside him.

“I-- I’m sorry, Mr. Freeman…” he managed, opening one eye.

“Sorry- what do you mean you’re sorry?”

Tommy pointed, with a shaky hand, towards the pile of broken glass on the ground before them. The glowing mass of the rift was already gone.

“...oh my god,” Gordon mumbled.

“Gordon. I’m scared,” Coomer said.

The sky rumbled, splitting open with a thunderous crack. An ear-splitting laugh filled the woods around them and a shadow fell over the group.

Ben Cipher appeared. Their body glowed as they slowly gained dimension. 2, 2.1, 2.2, 2.3, 2.4, 2.5, 2.6, 2.7, 2.8, 2.9, 3. Their eyelids grinned, sprouting horrible, curved yellow teeth.

“WELCOME TO WEIRDMAGEDDON!”

* * * * *

It had been two days of hell. Most of the townsfolk had been turned to stone, and the rest of them wandered the streets, their faces turned inside out. The only pocket of resistance was housed at the Mystery Shack, still protected from Ben by the unicorn’s magic. It was the middle of the night, but none of the refugees could sleep due to the heated argument taking place upstairs. Gordon and Bubby were at each other’s throats.

“You spent all this time trying to get him back, and now you’re just going to leave him at Ben’s mercy?” Gordon spat.

“Fucking shit, Freeman! I’ve already risked my goddamn life for him _once_ , and how does he repay me? He punches me in the fucking face! I’m not risking my neck again.”

“He’s the only one here who knows how to kill Ben!”

“So? If we just fucking walk in there, Ben will kill us first!”

“Do you have any better ideas?”

“Yes, actually! We grab our shit, fucking huddle down, and wait this shit out.”

Gordon threw his hands up, storming downstairs. He hesitated on the bottom step when he saw the rest of the group staring at him, cryptids and humans alike. Tommy looked up at him with concern in his eyes.

“Ah…” Gordon sighed. “You guys heard all that.”

Tommy nodded. “I-- I agree with you, Mr. Freeman. I think we should go save him… but how can we do it? W-We can’t leave the shack.”

Gordon sat down next to him, thinking. 

_The shack is surrounded by a force field. We need the force field to survive. Ben is miles away in the center of town. They’re keeping Coomer there. Maybe we could lure them out? Draw them away from the prison? But then we still have to get in to the prison, and who knows what it’s guarded by. Besides, if Ben found out what we were up to, we’d be unprotected. We need the force field._ His eyes widened. A realization hit him like a bolt of lightning.

“Why don’t we just take the shack to him?” He turned to Tommy, beaming.

“W-What?”

“Think about it! Bubby was able to rebuild that portal himself, you’re a robotics major, and we have a scrap yard nearby to boot!” 

Tommy nodded, starting to think through it. “I-- I think you might be on to something, Mr. Freeman!” he said.

“Get some sleep, Tommy. We have work to get done tomorrow.”

The next morning, Bubby was pulled from sleep by the sounds of hammering and welding. He bolted out of his room, shoving his glasses on.

“What the fuck is going on out here?” he barked.

Tommy turned to him, lifting the welding mask from his face and smiling. “Good morning, Dr. Bubby! D-Did we wake you up?”

Bubby looked around, eyes widening. The rest of the group was pulling off walls, drilling into the floor, and breaking windows.

“What the in the goddamn shit are you doing to my house? Gordon!”

Gordon walked downstairs, covered in oil and sweat. 

“Ah, you’re awake. Good, we need an extra hand upstairs.”

“What in the fuck is going on,” Bubby snarled.

“If you won’t leave the shack to go save your best friend, we’re going to bring the shack to him. If you don’t like it, you’re free to go.”

“You-” Bubby sputtered, looking for an argument to stand on. When none was found, he growled in frustration and stormed back into his room, slamming the door. Gordon sighed.

_Hopefully he’ll come around_ , he thought, as he walked back upstairs.

Bubby sat down on his bed, grumbling. The nerve of that kid. Who did he think he was? He stood up, starting to pace. How the hell would he get him to see reason? The plan was insane, a suicide mission! And for what? A man who’d never even thanked him for saving his life? No way. Not in another thirty years.

His frantic pacing stopped as he noticed something out of the corner of his eye. It was a framed photo, one he’d passed hundreds of times before. Dusty and tucked away on a top shelf. He grabbed it, dusting it off with a shirt sleeve.

Graduation day. Bubby stood with his arm slung around Coomer. The two of them were sleep deprived and half-delirious, as they’d spent the entire night talking in their dorm room. God, they were just kids. Bubby held his diploma above his head, beaming, while Coomer prepared to throw his cap. 

Bubby’s expression softened as he examined the photo. “Damnit, Harold…” he sighed. “What happened to us?”

He placed the picture back on the shelf with a dull thunk.

“Fuck it.” He straightened his collar. “I’ve had a long ass life already. Might as well go out with a bang.”

Swinging the door open, he found Gordon standing outside of his room. 

“What can I do to help.”

Gordon smiled.

It took them four days to get everything ready. The stronger cryptids helped with the hard labor, while the townsfolk hammered and welded. Bubby was revising the plans late into the night, with Tommy by his side. The day of, Bubby opened his bedroom door to see Gordon the front door open. Gordon sat outside on the porch, staring up at the swirling sky. Bubby walked out and sat down next to him on the stairs.

“You’re up fucking early.”

“Could say the same of you,” Gordon replied.

“Touché.”

The silence was almost peaceful. Bubby seemed uncomfortable with it, and broke it.

“Are you ready for this, Freeman?”

“...I’m not sure. But we don’t really have any other choice,” Gordon said, shrugging.

“Fair enough. Besides,” Bubby stood up, “it’s a goddamn beautiful day to die.”

Gordon smirked, getting off the front steps.

It took them another hour to rouse the rest of the group. Tommy was already up, sunny and ready to go. The cryptids and the townsfolk woke up with varying levels of cheer. Breakfast was quiet and solemn. When they were all done, Gordon stood.

“All of you have helped more than we could’ve asked for. And I know that going up against Ben is… frankly, it’s terrifying. I would never ask any of you to risk your lives for this. If you want to jump ship… now’s the time.”

No one stood. The room was silent.

“Well then. Looks like we’ve got a full house. Let’s get going.”

The shack creaked as it began to power up, and anyone not manning the controls held on for dear life. Knick knacks slid around the floor as the house stood, wobbling back and forth. They were clearly struggling to balance on their makeshift legs. Everyone in the control room began to yell back and forth, barking commands until the shack was stable. After taking a moment to breathe, they advanced. 

Ben had set up shop right in the middle of the town. A huge, spherical temple floated above the statue of the town founder, surrounded by eyebats. The streets were deserted, except for the occasional frozen townperson or feral beast. The shack froze when they heard it.

“Yo.”

“Fuck,” Gordon whispered, “it’s Ben.”

“What uhhhh,” lip smack, “whatcha doin here?”

Silence.

Gordon motioned for the others to take the controls, grabbing Bubby’s arm. “The others can distract them. We need to get in while we have the chance.”

Bubby nodded, gesturing for Tommy and a few others to follow. 

“Heyyyyy. Anyone in there? Knock knock?” Ben leaned in to look through the window. The shack lashed out, grabbing their eye. They screamed, stumbling back as their eye snapped shut. 

“What the fuck? Dude, not cool! I can’t fucking see now!” They fumbled around, throwing blind punches at the shack. The rescue team snuck out the back, staying as quiet as possible. They landed inside the temple with minimal damage, though a few of them had rough landings. Gordon dusted himself off, body going cold as he stared up at the throne in the center of the room. Each townsperson that made it up was frozen in a state of agony. It was a horrifying sight to behold. 

“Dear god…”

“Holy shit.” Bubby walked towards it, in a trance. He examined it, looking up at the seat. It was then that he noticed the golden statue standing on the chair’s arm. 

“Up there!” he said, pointing. “It’s Harold.”

“Right,” Gordon said, “now we just have to figure out how to- wait, Harold?”

“...Dr. Coomer. It’s Dr. Coomer.” His face flushed. “Look, I- let’s just figure out how to unfreeze all these fuckers!”

“Mhm.”

Tommy approached the throne, his eyes going glassy as he recognized a statue at the base of the chair. 

“Dad! Oh no, I-- I’ll figure out how to get you out!” Sure enough, Mayor Coolatta stood at the very bottom left corner of the throne. Tommy grabbed his hand and began to tug. His eyes glowed yellow as he put more strength into it. The room buzzed with electricity as the two otherworldly energies fought each other.

Something gave.

Mayor Coolatta’s eyes snapped open and he gasped, stumbling forwards and nearly collapsing. He blinked, shaking his head loose of the fog.

“Tommy?”

“Dad!”

The two embraced, but Gordon’s shaking voice broke the relieved silence.

“I hate to break up the tender moment,” he said, “but I think we might have a problem!”

The throne shook as it began to collapse, townsfolk unfreezing and coming to as they fell to the temple floor. Eventually, there was a pile of confused and panicking people in the center of the room. Dr. Coomer was the first to stand, looking around. Bubby pushed forwards, past the rest of the group.

“Harold!”

“Bubby?”

Staring into his face, Bubby felt all the anger and frustration melt away. He didn’t care about the portal, or the journals, or even the demon outside. He was just happy to see Coomer safe. 

Gordon looked outside, and saw the shack still going head to head with Ben. But they were losing ground, and losing ground quickly. The world was running out of time. 

“Everyone!” he said, waving his arms to get the room’s attention. “Listen! My name is Gordon Freeman, and I’m going to get you all out. We have Ben distracted, but we don’t know how long we can hold them. You need to get out of here. Use the entrance on the other side and scatter as soon as you get out. Let’s move!” He began herding the dazed townsfolk towards the door, looking over his shoulder anxiously. The battle outside was still raging. One by one, the townsfolk jumped from the temple and landed on the street just inside the town square. Families stuck together and took off into the woods, not even taking a moment to look back. When they were all safe, Gordon turned back to the nearly empty temple room. He walked up to Coomer, cutting Bubby off.

“Dr. Coomer. How do we beat that thing?”

“Ah, hello Gordon! Let me think.” Coomer pulled out one of the journals from his coat, flipping through it. “Here it is! The zodiac. These symbols are present all throughout history, in this order precisely. Prophecies of weirdmageddon are always accompanied by this image. It’s a shot in the dark, but it’s all we’ve got.”

“Great…” Gordon sighed. “How does it work?”

“We need something to make marks with.”

Bubby hesitated, before pulling a can of spray paint from his coat. He shrunk down as everyone turned to stare at him.

“...grafitti is fucking fun, alright? And besides, most of the town has been burned to shit. I never get to do any goddamn grafitti!” 

“Alright, we don’t have time to unpack all of that,” Gordon said, “so let’s just throw out the whole suitcase. Can you work with this, Dr. Coomer?”

“Of course I can, Gordon! I was quite the “rebel” when I was younger. I’ve done a graffiti or two.” He took the spray can from Bubby’s hand and began to paint on the floor. A huge ring, segmented into parts, with a symbol in each. Ben Cipher adorned the center. 

“Now we just need to stand in our appropriate places and hold hands.”

Gordon side-eyed Mayor Coolatta, but he could handle a few seconds of hand-holding if the fate of the world was in jeopardy. With each person in the circle, the symbols glowed a brighter and brighter blue. Until there was only one missing.

Bubby.

He stood outside the circle, arms crossed.

“Bubby, come on! Just step into the circle,” Gordon said, exasperated.

“Please, D-Dr. Bubby!” Tommy pleaded.

“What are you waiting for, Dr. Bubby?” Coomer questioned.

Bubby glared at him. All that anger had slowly been creeping back into him, and it poisoned him from his feet to his throat.

“I’m waiting for you to say thank you. For once. I spent thirty years of my fucking life, _thirty fucking years_ , pulling you back from the void. And you still haven’t given me one shitty little ‘thank you’!” He spat the words.

“Goddamnit, Bubby, now is not the time for--”

Coomer held up a hand to cut Gordon off. He turned to face Bubby, letting go of Gordon’s hand.

“Doctor… I know you think that it’s your own fault I ended up in that portal. But it’s not. The only thing you’re responsible for is getting me back. I don’t know how much longer I could’ve kept my head in there. So thank you. And I’m sorry.”

The two stared at each other. The silence stretched out, a second making up for years of lost time. Finally, Bubby moved. He stepped into the circle.

“...I forgive you.” 

He grabbed Coomer’s hand and a shock wave exploded out from the circle. It nearly knocked them back. 

Outside, Ben raised a rock to bring down on the shack. The shack was powerless. They’d already lost their legs, and they were running on half power. There was nowhere to run.

“Lil’ stupid boy forgot to protect his feet, huh? Wanted-- wanted me to touch his feet. Well, look who’s laughing now.” Ben cackled as they held the rock aloft.

The shock wave of the zodiac hit them like a tsunami. They dropped the rock, staggering back. Their eye went wide as they stared down at their shaking hands. 

“No… no, no, no!” Ben’s voice shook as their form began to fade in and out. Bricks shifted and they collapsed to the ground in a mess of missing textures. “You can’t! The zodiac is a myth!” Their body began to fizzle out. “ _Eid ot desoppus ton m'I! Eb ot desoppus saw ti woh t'nsi siht! Em ot gnineppah si tahw?_ ”

Ben screamed as their body imploded. The shock wave it sent out erased all the damage they did, and the temple began to crumble. 

“Everybody out!” Gordon shouted over the din. They all broke for the door as the walls crashed in around them. As he dove outside, Gordon slammed his head into the street below. The world went dark at the edges, and even though he fought it, his eyes closed.

He didn’t know how long he was out. 

When he was finally able to open his eyes again, he found himself inside the Mystery Shack. The events of the past week felt like a horrible dream, one that refused to slip away. He groaned as he sat up, his head throbbing.

“Ow…”

Someone walked in to the room. A familiar face, creased with worry.

“I-- I was wondering when you’d wake up. You took a pretty hard hit to the head, M-Mr. Freeman. How are you feeling?” Tommy asked.

Gordon reached up and touched the bump on his head, wincing.

“Not great,” he replied. “How long have I been out?”

“Th-Thirty-six hours…”

“What? I have to check on the others! I didn’t see them all get out safe!” He began to push himself off the couch, but stopped just as quickly. Pain and dizziness radiated through him. He groaned.

Tommy sat down on the couch next to him, placing a concerned hand on his arm. “Y-You need rest, Mr. Freeman! Everyone else is okay… Bubby and Coomer are out cataloguing the weirdness levels of the town. D-Darnold and Forzen are making care packages for the townsfolk out of the shack gift shop, and-- and my dad is back at our house. Everyone is safe.”

Gordon hesitated before asking his next question. He wasn’t sure he wanted the answer. “Is Ben… gone? Did we win?”

Tommy smiled. “Yes, Mr. Freeman. W-We won.”

* * * * *

His parents had called the shack dozens of times, but no one wanted to pick up the phone. What were they meant to tell them? The local news was reporting on the strange phenomenon out of Gravity Falls, but none of the reporters knew the real truth. It only took a day for the government to come in and start hiding the events. Nothing to see here, move along.

Gordon was eventually elected to answer the phone. He dialed the familiar numbers and held the receiver to his ear.

The phone barely got through one ring before someone picked up.

“Gordon! Finally, we’ve been calling for hours! What happened?” a voice on the other end asked.

“Hey, mom…” Gordon looked at the rest of the group, as well as the CIA agent who was listening in to the call. All of their stares said the same thing: _don’t tell her anything_.

He continued. “I’m okay… we’re not really sure what happened, though. They told us that it was an earthquake. Something about a new fault breaking open under Oregon…”

“Well, never mind all that. We want you to come home. Your father and I are worried, and it’s nearly time for school to start anyway. Bubby will buy your bus ticket.” 

“But mom--”

“No buts. This isn’t a discussion. You’re getting on a bus home tomorrow, and that’s final.” The phone line disconnected with a click.

Gordon put the phone back in it’s cradle with a sigh. He turned to the others.

“I… have to leave. Tomorrow,” he said.

The CIA agent registered the tone of the room and quickly made herself scarce.

“A-Are you sure, Mr. Freeman?” Tommy asked.

“Yeah… school’s starting up again soon.”

“W-Well, what do we do now?”

Bubby threw his arms around the two of them. “We throw a crazy fucking going-away party, that’s what we do! With heavy metal and fucking arson!”

“While I do enjoy a good arson, doctor, perhaps we should refrain from committing crimes while the CIA is in town,” Coomer said.

“Fine…” Bubby grumbled.

That night, Bubby managed to dig up some old fireworks. Gordon speculated on the risks of setting them off in the woods, but the man was on a mission. Despite the grandiose plans, the going-away party was quiet and small. Gordon sat next to Coomer on the porch as they went through a photo album from his and Bubby’s college days. Darnold and Tommy talked animatedly, while Forzen sat quietly on the steps. Bubby was busy setting off fireworks in the front yard. The forest was quiet, save for the occasional small explosions. 

Gordon yawned. “It’s getting late…” he remarked.

Tommy looked at his watch. “Mhm. I-- I should probably get home. My dad will worry.”

“Will I see you tomorrow at the bus stop?” Gordon asked.

“Probably not.”

“Ah…” Gordon stood up. “I guess I should say my goodbyes now, then.”

“Guess so.”

Gordon opened his mouth to speak, but no words came. What was he meant to say? After all they’d been through together? His eyes widened in surprise as Tommy pulled him into a hug. His eyes started to well up, but he swallowed the tears down.

“I-- I’m going to miss you, Mr. Freeman.”

“Me too, Tommy… me too.”

After another moment, Tommy broke out of the embrace with a crooked smile. 

“Come back soon, o-okay? I-- I promise it’s not always like that here…” Tommy said.

Gordon chuckled. “Okay, Tommy. I will.”

After one last glance over his shoulder, Tommy disappeared down the forest path.

Darnold and Forzen left soon after, both sharing their own goodbyes with Gordon. Short, but genuine. And then there were three, sitting on the porch. 

Coomer rested a hand on Gordon’s shoulder. 

“You should get some sleep, Gordon. Another day, another adventure! You want to be well rested for tomorrow.”

“Yeah, Dr. Coomer. I’ll do that.” 

Gordon watched as Coomer walked inside the shack.

“...will he be okay?”

“Don’t worry,” Bubby replied, “the man’s still fucking sharp as a tack. Besides, I won’t let him get in trouble.”

Gordon shot him a look.

“...goddamnit, fine. I won’t let him get in _too much_ trouble.”

“That’s the Bubby I know.”

Bubby laughed, walking in to the shack. Gordon followed, walking upstairs to his bedroom. He fell asleep almost as soon as his head hit the pillow. But he couldn’t stop the images of Ben following him into his dreams.

Perhaps they would never leave him.

The next morning, he woke up early enough to watch the sun rise. After breakfast, Bubby handed him a bus ticket.

“Are you guys coming with me?” Gordon asked.

“What? Can’t walk to the fucking bus stop on your own?” Bubby said.

“Of course we’ll come with, Gordon!” Coomer replied.

His luggage wasn’t any lighter the second time around, but Coomer helped. He was surprisingly strong for a sixty-something man. As they reached the stop, Gordon noticed the bus turning the corner into town. 

“Oh, wow. It’s right there. I guess… this is goodbye,” Gordon said, turning to them.

“Don’t get all fucking sappy on me, Freeman. We’re not going anywhere,” Bubby said, smiling. “You better come back. Don’t forget about us.”

“Wouldn’t dream of it.”

Bubby bristeled as Gordon hugged him, but accepted it anyways. Then, Gordon turned to Coomer.

“I… really wish we’d met at a better time, Dr. Coomer. But it was still nice.”

“It was pretty cool, Gordon,” Coomer said.

Gordon only lasted a few seconds in a hug with him, nearly having the wind crushed out of him. What was this man made of?

The bus pulled up, and the doors opened with a squeal. Gordon pulled his bags on, turning to look back at the two one last time. As the doors shut again, he caught the very last thing that Coomer said to him.

“Goodbye, Gordon.”


	2. Chapter One: Stranger in our Midst

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After ten years away, Gordon returns to Gravity Falls to reunite with all his old friends. He's tailed by a stranger who calls themself "Benrey." While the others are warm and welcoming to them, as small-town folk often are, Gordon can't help but feel uneasy every time they come into view. But his anxieties over the situation don't keep the stranger away.
> 
> TW: Panic attack.

One:  _ Stranger in our Midst _

Our setting:  _ Gravity Falls, OR. _

Our cast of characters:

  * _Gordon Freeman, age 27, intern at Black Mesa._


  * _Tommy Coolatta, age 36, mayor’s son._


  * _Dr. Bubby [REDACTED], age 73, owner of the Mystery Shack._


  * _Dr. Harold P. Coomer, age 71, retired physicist._


  * _Darnold Pepper, age 38, employee at the Mystery Shack._


  * _Forzen Nice, age 44, employee at the Mystery Shack._


  * _Mayor Coolatta, age [REDACTED], Gravity Falls mayor._


  * _Benrey [REDACTED], age 29, newcomer._


  * _Sunkist, a pig._



Gordon felt a wave of deja-vu rushing over him as the bus trundled down the dirt road outside of Gravity Falls. The last time he’d seen that worn wooden sign was ten years prior. He pulled the hand-written letter out of his bag to distract himself from the more unpleasant memories. The letter had ended up in his mailbox a week beforehand, and the familiar handwriting on it gave him cause to look closer at it.

The return address was written crooked in the top left corner. “Mystery Shack, Gravity Falls, OR.” Once he’d read that, he tore open the envelope. The letter was short and a bit messy, written in a hurry.

_ Hello, Gordon! _

_ We hope you’ve been well. It’s been too long since we’ve seen you. How have you been? It’s been business as usual at the Shack. Dr. Bubby got an increase in customers after Weirdmageddon, but things have since died down. The CIA contributed to this, making sure things were kept hush-hush. I have been exploring the town, cataloguing the weirdness levels in my newest journal. I thought that I’d seen everything there was to see, but Gravity Falls keeps me on my toes. Tommy has been asking after you recently. You should come visit us! We would all love to see you, it’s been too long. I’m sure you have much to report. _

_ Yours, _

_ Harold P. Coomer _

He re-read the letter, folding it carefully when he was done. As he placed it back in the envelope, he saw that the bus was rounding the corner into the town. The brakes squealed as the bus came to a stop, and the driver pulled the lever to open the doors.

“Last stop, Gravity Falls! Everyone out!” The driver barked.

Gordon looked around the bus. He wasn’t alone this time. A person sat in one of the very last seats, beanie pulled low over their eyes. They were farely nondescript: hoodie, sweatpants, black hair, and… were those crocs? Blue crocs. But something about them felt acidic and wrong. He wanted to get away from them. Grabbing his bags, he got off the bus, blinking in the bright sunlight. 

The bus stop was empty, but there was a familiar face walking past. Gordon’s face lit up and he waved.

“Tommy!” he called.

The man turned. “Mr. Freeman!”

Gordon had the wind knocked out of him as Tommy enveloped him in a tight hug, nearly lifting him off the ground.

He chuckled as Tommy put him back down. “Hey, bud.”

“It’s been too long! I feel like I-- I haven’t seen you in 3,659 days!”

“Something like that, yeah.”

Tommy grabbed his hand insitently. “Come on!” he said, “Bubby and-- and Coomer are waiting for us at the Shack! E-Everyone’s gonna be so happy to see you.”

“Right, the others! I just have to grab my--” Gordon turned back to the bus stop and froze, remembering the strange person that followed him off the bus. That same person still stood at the stop, mere feet from his bags. “...stuff.”

He approached them slowly, as if they were a wild animal. Before he was able to snatch his bags away, Tommy spoke up.

“H-Hello there! What brings you to Gravity Falls?”

Gordon grabbed his things and backed away, half-hiding behind Tommy’s lanky frame.

“Tommy,” Gordon hissed, “don’t talk to that guy!”

Before Tommy was able to respond, the stranger spoke.

“Uhh, I dunno. Saw a,” lipsmack, “bumper sticker ‘bout the ‘Mystery Shack’ or somethin’.” They shrug.

“Well, that’s where we-- we’re going! We can show you the way,” Tommy said with a smile.

“Tommy--”

“Sure,” the stranger cut Gordon off.

Gordon sighed, relenting. Apparently this was happening. He began to lug his bags down the familiar sidewalks, trailing behind Tommy and the newcomer.

“M-My name’s Tommy! He/they pronouns,” Tommy said, extending a hand.

The stranger took it. 

“I’m Ben… rey. Benrey. Uhh, they pronouns.” They shook Tommy’s hand briefly.

Tommy beamed. “It-- It’s nice to meet you, Benrey!”

The Shack came into view in front of them. The walls were mismatched, having been haphazardly patched up after the fight with Ben. A heavy wooden sign was balanced on one of the tall eaves, and the front porch looked exactly like Gordon remembered. There was a familiar figure on the front porch, who gave them a six-fingered wave.

“Hello, Gordon!”

Gordon moved past Tommy and Benrey, leaving his bags at the base of the porch stairs. He walked up them, smiling at Dr. Coomer. He shook his outstretched hand.

“It’s good to see you, Dr. Coomer,” he said.

“You’re a grown man now, Gordon. You can call me Harold.”

Gordon considered it. “How about I just drop the ‘doctor’...” he said after a beat.

“Whatever you like. I think Bubby is still inside, I’ll go get him.”

Coomer walked inside, leaving Gordon alone with Tommy and the stranger. After a few tense moments, he decided to speak up.

“Listen, guy--” Gordon began.

“Benrey.”

“Whatever. Listen, we got you here, but this is kinda personal. Can you make yourself scarce?” He crossed his arms over his chest, indignant.

“Mr. Freeman…” Tommy protested.

“No, Tommy, this is my first time seeing everyone in ten years! I’m not having some rando ruin it for me.”

Benrey huffs. “Fine, man, if you’re gonna be all weird about it I’ll go. Gordon Weirdman…” They walked back down the forest past towards the town. Tommy took a half-step to follow them, outstretching a hand, but decided not to call them back. He turned back to Gordon, miffed.

“That-- That wasn’t very nice of you, Mr. Freeman.”

Gordon sighed. “Can you just drop it, Tommy? Something about that guy is off…”

Tommy opened his mouth to rebut, but the door of the Shack opened before he got the chance.

“Where the fuck is my honorary nephew? That motherfucker who decided to go ten years without getting his ass out here to see us?” Bubby asked, stepping out onto the porch. He’d hardly changed a bit, only gaining a few more wrinkles and losing a bit more hair.

“Hey, Bubby.” Gordon gave a wave and a crooked smile.

Bubby gave him a firm handshake.

“It’s good to see you, Gordon. Let me help you get your stuff upstairs.” He reached down and tried to lift the dufflebag. “Fuck no. Harold will help you.”

Gordon raised an eyebrow, smirking. “Harold~?”

“Shut the hell up,” Bubby snapped. He walked back into the house, and Coomer walked out a few moments later to haul the bags inside. He threw the dufflebag over his shoulder easily. Still strong as hell.

Gordon looked up at the sky. The sun was beginning to dip below the pine trees, throwing dark orange light over the few clouds. It had already began to set when the bus was pulling in to the stop, and he suddenly realized that he hadn’t eaten in hours. His last meal had been lunch on the bus, a slightly squished sandwich and half a packet of chips. He walked inside the Shack, glancing back at Tommy, who stood at the base of the porch steps. Tommy was still looking down the forest path that Benrey had disappeared down, anxious.

“You coming, bud?” Gordon asked.

Tommy snapped out of his daze and walked up the steps. 

Inside, Coomer had thrown the bags up the stairs and was now sitting at the small kitchen table, looking over his newest journal. Bubby was closing up the Shack’s gift shop, with Darnold’s help, and Forzen stood leaning against a wall. Tommy quickly moved to help Darnold, pushing past Gordon on the way and throwing Forzen a wave.

Gordon sat down at the kitchen table across from Coomer.

“So… find out anything new about the town? Any interesting anomalies?” He asked.

Coomer raised his head from the journal. “Ah, hello Gordon. I’m glad you asked. While most of the cryptids are exactly as I left them, it seems Weirdmageddon had an interesting effect on some of them. The eye-bats are becoming more brazen, unfortunately; Bubby has had to contend with them roosting in the Shack a few times. And it seems that pockets of weirdness still remain in town. For instance, just last week, someone was playing DDR in the arcade and they accidentally opened a portal to hell.”

“My god,” Gordon said. After a moment, he asked, “Has anyone beat my highscore?”

Coomer laughed. “I haven’t the faintest idea, Gordon. Perhaps you could go into town tomorrow and see for yourself.”

“I suppose I should.”

An awkward silence stretched between the two, until Gordon’s stomach growled loudly and broke it. He smiled sheepishly.

“Any portals to hell in Greasy’s Diner?” he asked.

“Not at the moment.” 

Gordon stood up. “Let’s get going, then. I’ll go tell the others.”

“Great idea, Gordon! Catching up with old friends is best done over food.”

As Gordon left the kitchen to rally the others, Coomer’s easy smile slipped from his face. He looked back down at the journal in his hands, lightly tracing the words of the most recent page with a finger. 

“Creature #326 (?)”

The diner hadn’t changed a bit. The six of them were able to squeeze into a booth together, though Gordon and Tommy were squished against the wall and Forzen and Darnold were hanging off the edge. After they ordered, the others began interrogating Gordon. 

“What’s the name of that fuckin’ lab you work for now? Aperture or some shit?” Bubby asked, raising an eyebrow.

“No, they’re nearby, I work for Black Mesa. Well… I’m just an intern.”

“What-- What’s it like? Working in a lab?” Tommy asked, starry-eyed.

“Honestly, it’s kinda boring. They’re working on some pretty cool stuff, but I’m just there to get coffee and file papers. Ah, well. Sometimes the nicer scientists let me watch some of the experiments.”

Tommy launched in to a monologue about his own laboratory work; how Coomer was letting him use the underground lab, the robotics he was working on, some of the more theoretical things he was toying with, et cetera. As he talked, he drummed his fingertips absentmindedly on the table top. Gordon listened, but his focus broke when he heard the diner’s door open. He looked up and his blood ran cold.

Benrey. 

_ God, what the hell is that fucker doing here?  _ Gordon thought, averting his eyes as soon as he saw the familiar beanie.  _ Calm down, Gordon. It’s not like they’re stalking you. This is like the only place to eat in town. They’re allowed to eat. _

He was snapped out of his thoughts as Tommy raised a hand. “Benrey!” he called.

_ Shit. _

All the others turned to look. Benrey gave an awkward wave.

“Yo.” 

Some of the others waved back. Tommy waved them over, smiling. Gordon shrunk down in his seat, staring at his cold food. 

“Who the fuck are you?” Bubby asked, shoving a fry in his mouth.

“This-- This is Benrey!” Tommy responded, before they had a chance. “Mr. Freeman and I met them at the-- the bus stop. They’re new to town.”

Bubby’s eyes widened behind his glasses, and he leaned forwards, suddenly interested. “You ever been to the Mystery Shack?”

Benrey huddled down into their hoodie a bit, uncomfortable with all the sudden attention. “Uhh… saw a bumper sticker for it on the way in.”

Bubby beamed. “Well shit, come by first thing tomorrow, when we open! I’ll give you the grand tour,” he said, before adding in a lower voice, “at full price, of course.”

Gordon began to tune out the rest of the conversation, blood thudding in his ears. His breath started to pick up. His hands began to shake. Blinking away sudden tears from rising panic, he clambered over the other’s in the booth and made for the door, mumbling something about “getting some fresh air.” Tommy watched him leave with concern, following soon after. Gordon sat on the front steps of the diner, clenching and unclenching his shaking fists. He didn’t even look up as Tommy sat down beside him.

“Mr. Freeman…?”

Gordon blinked, shaking himself out of a daze. He looked over at Tommy, pale as a ghost.

“What-- What’s the matter?” Tommy asked.

Gordon sucked in a breath, trying in vain to calm his racing heart. “I… I don’t know. Just a panic attack, I think. I-- I get them sometimes,” he mumbled, shrugging.

“What brought it on?”

“I dunno. Sensory overload, maybe? T-Too many people talking?” Even as he said it, Gordon knew it was a lie. He knew exactly what had brought it on. 

“Do you want me-- me to get Sunkist for you? She is a therapy animal…”

“No, no, it’s okay. I’ll be okay.” Gordon stood up. The pounding of his heart had subsided a bit, now. “I just need to go home.”

Tommy nodded, standing. “I’ll tell the others. Ge-Get some rest, okay? You’ve had a long day.”

“Yeah. Thanks, Tommy…”

As Gordon began to walk towards the forest, he heard Tommy opening the door and walking back inside. He turned back for one last look, and immediately wished he hadn’t as he made eye contact with Benrey. He turned back just as quick, walking faster now.

He felt sick.

As Gordon lay in bed that night, tossing and turning in his sheets, he replayed the events of the day. Bus ride, stranger, reunions, diner, panic. What was it about that person that had shaken him so? He’d seen far stranger in his time inside and outside of Gravity Falls. 

One event stuck in his head as he began to fade into an uneasy sleep. A fact that he’d glossed over before, but one that now weighed heavy on his mind. 

The realization hit him like a bus. He sat up in bed, eyes wide open.

_ I never told that fucker my name. Why in the hell did they know my name? _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know this chapter is far shorter than the prologue. Part of this is the fact that the prologue was my attempt at summing up a two-season show in one chapter, but I have also chaptered this story out in a way that is most conducive to the larger plot. I also made this short so I can get chapters out in a timely fashion. 
> 
> Also, as a note: In this story, Dr. Coomer suffers from short-term memory loss due to his time in the nightmare realm. This leads to his speech being very repetitive. If you notice that I portray anything wrong or offensively, please don't hesitate to tell me! I've tried to do research on memory disorders in order to write this accurately, but I can't catch everything, and the last thing I want to do is offend.
> 
> Thanks for reading!


	3. Chapter Two: Cornered Animals

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> As the sun rises on another morning in Gravity Falls, something has changed. Someone has changed, as well. Gordon's suspicions of Benrey heighten as tensions begin to build, and strange forces are at work behind the scenes. Everyone's nerves are stretched tight, and sooner or later, someone is going to snap.
> 
> CW: Descriptions of body horror.

Chapter Two: _Cornered Animals_

Mayor Coolatta’s morning was interrupted that day by a firm knock on his front door. He swung it open and stared down at the woman who’d knocked. Even with his relatively composed expression, she shrunk away from his bright blue glare.

“What, do you want? I am, enjoying breakfast. With, my son,” he asked, tapping a foot in annoyance.

“I-I’m sorry, sir,” she stuttered, “but there’s something you need to see.”

He sighed, pinching his brow. “Fine. Give me, a moment, to compose. Myself.”

A few moments later, he returned to the door, fully dressed in a cleanly pressed suit. After waving goodbye to Tommy, he followed the woman towards the outskirts of town. 

“This had, better, be important,” he muttered under his breath.

She struggled to stay ahead of his long strides, but he slowed as they reached the town’s edge. A car sat, smoking and crashed, in the middle of the road. The front of it was crumpled beyond recognition, crushed up against seemingly nothing. It had just crashed in the middle of an empty road.

He cocked his head in confusion, walking closer to the wreck. It made no sense. Perhaps it hit a deer? Judging by the damage, it might’ve hit one of the larger cryptids roaming around the woods. He was so caught up in his musings that he was startled as he ran into something. Reaching up, he pressed his hand against the barrier. It didn’t look like there was anything there, but he was touching what seemed to be a solid wall. As if there was a sheet of glass in front of him, so clean that he couldn’t even see his reflection in it. He turned back to the woman, who was wringing her hands anxiously.

“Thank you for, bringing this. To my attention,” he said. He waved his hand dismissively. “You may go. I, can take care of, this.

She gave a quick nod and ran off back to town. He turned his attention back to the peculiar barrier before him. _Doctor Coomer will know what to do about this_ , he thought to himself, turning to walk back into town.

The Shack was just coming to life as the sun crested over the pine trees. Gordon was making breakfast for himself, if you could call it that. Coomer was looking over a map of the town, scouting new research locations, over a cup of coffee. Bubby was half-asleep, leaning against the wall. All three of them startled at a firm knock on their door. Gordon opened it, craning his neck to look into the face of the figure outside.

“Oh!” he said, recognizing the man. “Hey, Mr. Coolatta. What can I do for you?”

“May I, come in?” he asked.

“Uh… sure.” Gordon stepped out of the way, taken aback by the mayor’s grave tone.

Mr. Coolatta ducked under the doorframe and stepped inside the house. The other two turned their attention to him, with varying levels of interest. Bubby blinked slowly, trying to shake himself out of sleep.

“Hello, Mayor Coolatta!” Coomer chirped, smiling up at him. 

“Doctor Coomer. You are, who I am looking, for.”

“Oh? What do you need?”

“There is, something. You need to see,” he turns back to the door, ready to leave. After a moment, he glanced back at the other two. “You two may, come with. If you like. Doctor Bubby, we could use your. Expertise.”

Bubby grunted in response. Gordon hurried to finish his food and grab a few things, tailing Coomer as he followed Mayor Coolatta. 

After a few moments, Bubby decided to follow them. Nothing better to do, really.

Coomer was already examining the wreck when Gordon caught up with them. 

“How strange!” he exclaimed.

“What happened?” Gordon asked, trying to catch his breath.

“Ah, hello Gordon. It seems that this vehicle crashed into some sort of invisible barrier.” As Coomer talked, he pressed a hand against the strange wall. “This warrants further study. I need to see if this barrier encircles the whole town.”

“What do you think caused it?” Gordon asked. He knocked against it lightly.

“To be quite honest, I don’t know. The last time I saw something similar was when the town’s natural weirdness-attracting properties created a force field to keep Ben in. But that doesn’t explain why it’s returned now…” he ran a hand through his sparse hair, clearly puzzled.

At the mention of Ben, Gordon shuddered. Coomer noticed, and his expression softened.

“Don’t worry, Gordon. We bested Ben fair and square.”

“I know, I know…” Gordon sighed.

“Why don’t you and Tommy go down to the arcade? Dr. Bubby and I can handle this.”

Bubby had been standing a few feet away, listening to the conversation. When Gordon turned to look at him, he gave a half-shrug. 

“Well? You fuckin’ heard the man.”

Gordon shrugged back, giving the twisted mess of a car one more worried glance before starting to walk back to town. 

Tommy was out in the Coolatta’s front yard with Sunkist when Gordon arrived. He opened the gate and the pig ran up to him, snuffling around his legs. His nervous expression softened a bit and he leaned down to pet her.

“Good morning, M-Mr. Freeman!” Tommy called from the porch steps.

“Morning, Tommy.” Gordon walked over and sat down next to him.

“Is something th-the matter?”

Damn, the man could smell blood in the water like a shark. Gordon offhandedly wondered if it was a Coolatta thing or just a Tommy thing, but that line of questioning could wait for another day.

“...it’s probably nothing.” Tommy looked like he was going to pry, so Gordon quickly changed the subject. “You wanna go to the arcade? There probably aren’t any portals to hell in there right now.”

Tommy brightened. “Sure! I-- I’ve just got to put Sunkist away and grab my ear defenders. If we get there soon, it probably won’t be too busy.”

“Gotcha. I’ll just wait out here,” Gordon responded. 

A few minutes later, Tommy walked out of the house without Sunkist. Gordon stood up and walked beside him, struggling a bit to keep up with his long strides. The town was slowly waking up as the sun climbed higher into the sky. It was around ten-thirty. Greasy’s Diner was past its breakfast rush, but the lunch rush hadn’t begun to filter in yet. A few dog-walkers were out on the sidewalks, and Tommy waved at most of the people they passed. Small towns. Everyone knows everyone. Gordon waved tentatively at some of the people he recognized, but ten years had left most of the townsfolk strangers. 

The arcade sat on a street corner, squished up against a cafe. The years of wear and tear hadn’t taken much of a toll on the place; it was just as run-down as Gordon remembered. It was relatively empty of customers. Before he walked over to the change machine, Gordon tapped Tommy’s shoulder. Tommy took off his headphones and looked down at him expectantly.

“Tell me if it gets to be too much, alright?” he asked.

“Mhm!” Tommy snatched some quarters from the change machine and walked deeper into the arcade, making a beeline for his favorite game.

Gordon grabbed some of his own coins and made his way to the DDR machine. No portals to hell at the moment. As he loaded it up with quarters and heard the familiar music, he began to relax. Thoughts of Ben and the strange new barrier around town faded as he played through one of his favorite songs. No talk of demons or disasters, just ‘90s pop.

“You need a player two, bro?” A voice from behind asked, just as the first song ended.

Gordon turned, freezing. “B… Benrey?” he managed.

“Whuh?”

Gordon backed up against the machine. “What are you doing here?”

They shrugged. “I dunno, man. Wanted t’ play… games or somethin’.” Lipsmack. “What’re _you_ doin’ here?”

“Me and Tommy wanted to-- hold on, I don’t have to explain myself to you!”

Tommy rounded a pinball machine and came into view, looking for the change machine. Speak of the devil. 

“Oh, hi Benrey!” he said, with a smile.

Benrey gave a small smile back. 

Tommy’s expression changed as he focused on their face. “O-Oh my goodness! Benrey, what happened to you?” he asked.

Gordon had been so busy looking for a way out of the situation that he didn’t realize how banged up Benrey was. There was a smear of dried blood under their nose, and bruises around one of their eyes in a motley of sickening colors. They stared down at the floor, shoving bruised and bloody hands into their hoodie pockets.

“S’ nothing. Just a… just a lil’ scratch,” they mumbled.

“Let me see your hands,” Tommy said, stern.

They hesitated before pulling their hands back out of their pockets. Gordon leaned in for a closer look as they held them up. It looked like they’d been punching drywall for fun. Nothing seemed broken, thankfully, but still.

“Benrey, have you-- you gone to a doctor yet? You should get this looked at…” Tommy said, as he carefully examined the wounds.

“Nah, s’ okay. I’m not… human,” they replied.

Gordon’s eyes widened at this, but Tommy seemed undaunted. 

“You should still go to a doctor. Your-- Your fingers could be broken!”

Benrey snatched their hands away. “M’ fine, man. Don’ even… don’ even know where the doctor is here.”

Tommy sighed. “I-- I’m taking you to the doctor. Come on, follow me.”

He walked out the front door of the arcade, tailed by Benrey. Gordon hesitated. On the one hand, he didn’t want to be near Benrey. Something about them made him feel sick. But on the other, he didn’t want to leave Tommy alone with them. That, and he was sort of curious about how this was going to play out.

He decided to follow.

The doctor’s office was next to the police station, near the water tower. Gordon looked up at it, smirking. After ten years, the graffiti was still there. Faded, yes, but still there. When he walked into the waiting room, Tommy and Benrey were sitting in a couple of scuffed-up chairs. Gordon sat next to them, making sure to place Tommy between himself and Benrey.

A nurse walked out from the back. “Um… Benrey?” she called.

“Yo,” they responded, standing up. Tommy made a move to follow, but the nurse held up a hand to stop him.

“I’m sorry, Tommy, but if you’re not family you have to stay out here.”

“O-Oh, right.” He sat back down next to Gordon.

Gordon gave him a sideways glance, his face softening as he saw the concern in Tommy’s expression.

“...I’m sure they’ll be okay. Just a few scratches,” he said.

“I know, I-- I know. They wouldn’t tell me what happened… this doesn’t just look like a fall.”

“Maybe they ran into one of the smaller cryptids? Those can put up quite a fight.”

“Maybe.”

The door opened again and two familiar figures walked through. Coomer led a grumbling Bubby to the chairs and made him sit down. Tommy waved at them.

“Hey Dr. Coomer, Dr. Bubby. What are you-- you doing here?” he asked.

“Hell if I know. I keep telling this man I’m fucking fine, but he still insisted on dragging me down here,” Bubby replied.

“Doctor Bubby tried to break through the barrier surrounding the town, Tommy. And it seems to have retaliated. Interestingly enough, giving it a hard hit caused it to transfer the force back into its attacker. A truly remarkable example of Newton’s third law of motion!” Coomer explained, before launching into the basics of physics. He was getting into the equations when the nurse reappeared from the back with Benrey.

“Next,” she called.

Gordon cringed away as Benrey sat down next to him. Their hands were covered in gauze and bandages, their face was cleaned up, and there was tape across their nose. 

“Doc said m’ good to go… nothin’s broken or anything.” Lipsmack. “Just kinda fucked up.”

“What did you do to yourself, man?” Gordon asked.

Benrey quickly changed the subject. “What’re, uhh, the boomers doin’ here? Those two,” they said, gesturing vaguely to where Coomer and Bubby were sitting.

“Bubby might have a concussion,” Gordon replied. It wasn’t exactly the truth, but it was shorter.

As the three of them stood up, Tommy leaned closer to Gordon to whisper to him. 

“What did-- did Dr. Coomer mean? About a barrier surrounding the town?”

Gordon’s eyebrows shot up. “Your dad didn’t tell you?”

“Didn’t tell me-- me what?”

Gordon made a move to explain, but paused when he realized Benrey was still in earshot. They were clearly eavesdropping, though they were making a small effort to be subtle about it. Gordon lowered his voice further.

“I’ll explain once they’re gone. Your dad wanted to keep it out of the public.”

Tommy wanted to press, but decided against it. He nodded.

As they walked out of the doctor’s office, back into the sunlight of the humid summer day, Benrey paused. They turned to look back at the others. 

“S’ bout noon. Hungry?” They asked, with a half-shrug.

Gordon and Tommy shared a glance.

“Ehh… I had a pretty big breakfast not too long ago. I’m good. You’re not hungry, right Tommy?” Gordon replied, elbowing Tommy subtly.

“Huh? O-Oh, yeah! Yeah, Mr. Freeman and I are okay.”

“Tch. Well, m’ hungry. S’ snack… snacky time for Benny boy.” Lip smack. “M’ gonna go find some, uh, gamer fuel.”

“Good luck with that,” Gordon said, already grabbing Tommy’s arm to steer him away.

Benrey opened their mouth to say something, but the other two were already out of earshot. They scowled, their face darkening. 

_They’re on to you._

Gordon slowed his pace to walk once they were out of Benrey’s view, sighing in relief. Tommy slowed his pace to match, looking around to make sure they were alone before speaking.

“So… what were you-- you talking about earlier?”

“Well, this morning your dad knocked on the Shack’s door asking after Coomer. Bubby and I tagged along, and when we got to the town’s border, there was…” he trailed off, trying to think of a way to describe the phenomenon they’d witnessed. “A car had crashed into, seemingly, nothing. When we looked closer, there was a weird barrier around town. Invisible and, from the looks of things so far, unbreakable. I mean, it took the car fine…”

When he looked back up, Tommy had a hand to his chin, deep in thought. 

“Did Dr. Coomer have any-- any idea what it was?” he finally asked.

“Not really, but…” Gordon’s stomach flipped as he remembered Coomer’s words. After a moment, he spoke again, “He said it was like the barrier that kept Ben in.”

Tommy’s eyebrows disappeared into his hairline. 

“B-But that doesn’t mean anything. We killed Ben for good,” Gordon quickly added. “Besides, we’ve seen weirder in Gravity Falls, right?”

“I-- I guess…” Tommy replied, unconvinced.

They walked in silence the rest of the way out of town. Anxiety weighed on both of them like a lead bar, but neither acknowledged the burden. As they approached the twisted mass of a car, they slowed. It had stopped smoking now, thankfully. 

Tommy placed a careful hand on the side of the wreck, wincing. “Goodness…”

“No one got hurt, thankfully,” Gordon said, answering Tommy’s question before he asked it. That out of the way, Tommy walked forwards to examine the wall. He pressed a hand against it, cocking his head to examine it closer.

“It-- It doesn’t even feel like anything. It’s as smooth as a Beluga whale’s back,” he remarked. When he took his hand away, there was a faint handprint, which faded after less than a second. Gordon leaned forwards and squinted, but he couldn’t see any fingerprints left. 

“I wonder if it surrounds the whole town…” he thought aloud.

“Well… I-- I don’t have anything to do today. Want to find out?” Tommy asked with a smile.

Gordon shrugged. “Why not?”

So they spent the next two hours walking the circumference of the town. Tommy ran a finger along the barrier while Gordon trodded beside, occasionally struggling to keep up with Tommy’s long strides. The conversation was light and flowed easily, and their former anxiety faded into the backdrop of the bright summer day. Tommy bounced on his toes as he walked, tapping his fingers against his temple. Gordon was so focused on what he was saying that he nearly ran into the car wreck.

“M-Mr. Freeman!” Tommy grabbed his shoulder before he could slam his shin into what was left of the passenger door. 

“Woah!” Gordon stopped suddenly. “Thanks, bud…”

Now that they were standing back where they started, Gordon’s stomach slowly sunk. His hands began to sweat and his throat went dry. His thoughts began to race.

_God. It’s around the whole town, isn’t it? We really are trapped in here, aren’t we? There’s no way out. What if I’m stuck here forever? How long will I be here? My parents, my friends, will I ever see--_

His thoughts were interrupted by a hand on his shoulder. He looked up at Tommy, eyes wide.

“How about we-- we go to my house, okay? You can talk to my dad about it, okay?”

Gordon took a deep breath and nodded. Tommy kept a light hand on his shoulder to guide him away from the car. 

Gordon was trembling.

When Mayor Coolatta arrived home, he found Gordon and Tommy sitting on the living room couch. Sunkist was lying on Gordon’s lap, snuggled up to him. 

“Hello, Mr. Freeman… what are you, doing here?” Mr. Coolatta asked, putting his things down on the kitchen table.

Gordon looked over at him, shooing Sunkist off his lap. She gave him a forlorn glance, but moved all the same.

“Hey, Mayor Coolatta. Um… I was actually waiting for you,” he replied.

“Oh? Why is, that?”

“Me and Tommy followed the barrier around town. It… It surrounds everything.”

“I see. That is, an, issue.”

Tommy spoke up. “What are we-- we going to do, dad…?”

Mr. Coolatta faltered under Gordon and Tommy’s anxious stares. He looked away, taking a moment to compose himself.

“...I, don’t know. I apologize son, Mr. Freeman, but that is a question. I cannot, answer.”

The silence stretched out between them, heavy and suffocating.

 _Dr. Coomer will know what to do about this._ Gordon thought, trying to reassure himself. _Right?_

But as he looked at Tommy and the mayor’s faces, twisted with dread, his heart went cold. 

_Right...?_

Several hours beforehand.

Benrey lay curled in their musty motel bed, the paper-thin blanket pulled around them still too much for the humid summer night. Their eyes snapped open, staring at the lurid red light of the alarm clock. Half-past three in the morning. The bedsprings creaked as they sat up, bracing themself against the mattress with locked elbows. Gravity wanted to drag them back down into bed, and they had to strain against it as they stood.

“Stupid fuckin’ body…” they grumbled, pulling on their hoodie and shoving their feet into crocs. The only lights in the room were the digital numbers of the clock and the pale yellow glow of their eyes. Their body tensed as they opened the motel door, chilly air hitting them in a gust. They pulled the hoodie tighter around themself, shoes slapping against the asphalt as they walked out of the parking lot. The night was empty and silent. Not a single car passed them as they walked out of town. Streetlights flickered as they walked under them, and they quickly abandoned the sparse light of Gravity Falls in favor of the forest beyond.

The air was thick with the scent of pine. Fallen needles crunched under their feet, and an owl hooted in the distance. Small animals scurried away as they approached, but they paid the creatures no mind. They had bigger things to contend with tonight. As they approached the end of town, they slowed.

They stopped as they ran into a wall.

Their eyes glowed brighter as they examined the barrier, pressing against it.

“Whuh…?”

They gave it a harder push, adrenaline heating up in their veins.

“No… no, no, no! You let me in! What is it, huh? Is it this stupid cringe body? Is that what you don’t like?”

They gave it a punch. Nothing.

“Goddamnit! _Lliw ym ot wob ll'uoy! RehpiC neB taerg eht m'I!_ ”

They hammered their fists against it, panic rising in their voice as they muttered to themself.

“It… it’s just the body. Yeah. If I just-- If I use my full power, I’ll break through no problem. No sweat, easy. Yeah.”

They closed their eyes. The forest was filled with the sound of bones cracking and popping out of place, their spine folding backwards. They fell to their knees, shoulderblades touching the soles of their feet. Every animal nearby ran for cover as the trees turned gray. Only some of them were able to escape before the forest froze in time.

Their jaw unhinged with a sickening pop and a long, spindley hand reached out of it. Little by little, Ben Cipher pulled themself out into the cold night air. 

“Gross,” they grumbled.

Looking back at the limp body laying flat on the grass, they cringed. Of all the human bodies that were readily avaible, they had to use a flabby, clumsy, 20-something who worked at a Gamestop. A _Gamestop_ . Pitiful. Trying in vain to brush the -- ugh -- _mortal_ off themself, they approached the barrier.

They cracked their knuckles and concentrated, deep navy light beginning to glow from their hands. They closed their hands into fists and their eye snapped open, lighting up the forest around. 

They attacked the barrier with a barrage of punches. Wham! Wham! Wham! Again, and again, and again, shots echoing into the night air. They screamed as they gave one final hit. The ground shook. Wind tore through the redwoods, howling and screeching. 

The barrier retaliated. It’d had enough.

Another gust of wind hit Ben squarely in the chest, throwing them back and slamming them against the wide trunk of a tree. When they were able to open their eye again, it was blood red.

“Well! Looks like… like someone wants to play dirty! Pretty fuckin’ weak fence, can’t even take a hit quietly!”

They got back up and flew, full force, at the barrier. They hit it with both fists, and a shockwave rippled through the woods. 

The barrier threw them back once more. This time, it was angry.

One hit to the side. One to the face. Another to the face. 

They were out for a long time. Everything hurt. When they finally lifted themself from the dirt, aching, they crawled back to the limp body on the ground. They slithered back inside, tail between their legs. As they sat up, once again in the fragile human body they were forced to wear, they winced. It wasn’t until they saw the blood on the ground that they looked down at their battered, bruised hands. Their legs creaked as they stood, bracing against a tree trunk. Blood throbbed in their ears.

As they walked back through the forest, hunched in shame, their thoughts were racing.

_I can’t believe I got beat by a fuckin’ wall. A wall! I’m Ben Cipher, I’m a goddamn demon! There has to be someone in this town who knows how to break it… but they wouldn’t tell me. They’re already onto me. There has to be someone in this backwater shithole that they’ll trust._

They froze.

_Someone close to the mayor. Someone close to the person who knows everything about every weird thing in this shit town._

A sick smile spread across their face. It was the smile of a lion, about to rip a baby gazelle to shreds. Blood ran down their face, pouring from their nose, but they didn’t care. 

_Someone very, very close to a man who still owes me a favor._

As they walked back to town, the only sounds in the forest were the faint whispers of the wind and the echoing laugh of a beast about to strike.


	4. Chapter Three: Settle Your Debts

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After a new discovery is made about the barrier wall around Gravity Falls, the Shack kicks in to high gear trying to fix things. Benrey is very interested in helping solve the mystery, and Gordon is nearing his breaking point. It seems like he can't escape them, no matter where he goes. Sure, it's a small town, but it seems like more than an innocent coincidence.

Chapter Three: _ Settle Your Debts _

“How bizarre!” Coomer remarked as he straightened up, pulling his face away from the microscope.

They were all in the lab underneath the shack; Coomer, Gordon, Bubby, and Tommy. The lab had been somewhat improved in the decade since Gordon had seen it. Bubby ripped the portal out, obviously, and sold it for parts. The cavernous space left was turned into a proper lab for Coomer, with LED lights, supplies, and lots and lots of books. They were planning on connecting it to the bunker in the woods, but that was still a work in progress. At the moment, Gordon was sitting on one of the tables, watching as Coomer poked and prodded at the small sample of the barrier they were able to gather. Tommy looked up, pulling his safety goggles up onto his forehead. He placed his things down on the table, carefully taking off his gloves and trashing them. 

“What is-- is it?” He asked, moving to stand next to Coomer.

“Take a look, my boy,” Coomer replied, rotating the microscope towards Tommy.

Tommy leaned forwards and squinted, fiddling with the knobs with the precision of an expert. After a moment of staring to understand what he was seeing, he pulled back. His eyebrows disappeared into his hairline.

“Mr. Freeman, come look at-- at this!”

Gordon hopped off the counter, joining Tommy at the table. He looked, but even with his glasses, he couldn’t tell what they were marveling at.

“Uh… I just see a stained slide. Am I missing something?” he asked.

“Well, this strange wall around the town is like no material we’ve seen before,” Coomer said.

“Well, yeah, we knew that already.”

“But now I know why, Gordon! This is no material at all. It’s an organism!”

Gordon’s eyes widened. “Pardon?”

“It’s-- It’s alive, Mr. Freeman, growing and dividing like any other living thing does! Slowly, yes, but it’s happening. As sure as soil traps carbon,” Tommy said, beaming.

Gordon took another look. Sure enough, the upon closer inspection, the barrier was made of cells. Cells like Gordon had never seen before. They were strangely rectangular, and seemed to be dividing in slow motion. They moved around the slide at half a snail’s pace. 

“That’s incredible…” Gordon breathed. “Explains why it was able to fight back, too.”

“Precisely!” Coomer chirped.

Gordon sat back down on the counter, processing this new information. His scientific curiosity was quickly overtaken by a familiar worry.

_ It’s alive. We aren’t just trying to break down a wall anymore, we’re actually fighting something. I’ve never seen cells like this before, I have no idea how we’re meant to kill them! _

He sighed, leaning back against the wall. 

Bubby stood up, his chair screeching as he pushed it back.

“Well, if it’s alive, then we just have to kill it. Let’s just fucking set it on fire. Or shoot it? I’m just tossing ideas out,” he said, beginning to pace.

“Now, Bubby,” Coomer chided, “while I’m always up for violence, we need to be scientific in our approach.”

Bubby grumbled. “Well, do you have any better ideas?”

Coomer turned his attention to Tommy.

“Tommy, do you think you could find out the chemical composition of our friend here?” he asked.

“Well, I-- I can try, but I’m not a chemist…” Tommy replied.

“Isn’t Darnold a chemistry major?” Gordon asked.

Tommy’s face lit up. “You’re right, Mr. Freeman! I’m sure he-- he’d help if we asked. I’ll go talk to him.”   
Bubby stretched, his back cracking. “I’m coming with,” he stated, “need a break from this damn hole. How in the hell do you spend all day down here, Harold?”

“Spending thirty years in the nightmare realm gave me a whole new frame of reference for darkness and despair!” Coomer replied, smiling.

A silence stretched through the room as the three of them tried to think of an adequate response to that. When none of them were able to find one, Bubby made his way towards the door, Tommy on his heels. Gordon decided to stay in the lab with Coomer, slightly worried about the old man.

Darnold raised his head from a book as Tommy and Bubby walked into the Shack’s gift shop. 

“Any news?” he asked.

“A-- A lot, actually!” Tommy replied.

Darnold put the book down. “Oh?”

As Tommy filled him in, Bubby walked out onto the front porch. He was antsy from spending so much time underground, and needed the fresh air. It was only when he descended the porch steps that he realized something was off. All of his carefully placed signs were flipped around, arrows leading away from the Shack and into the woods. He carefully approached the first of them, examining it. It had been rudely ripped out of the ground and turned around, the grass around the pole torn away. 

“What the fuck…” he grumbled, beginning to follow the signs deeper into the woods. 

He was so focused on the signs that he didn’t realize where they were leading. His heart dropped into his stomach as he came into a clearing. A very, very familiar clearing. Goddamnit, he’d walked right into a trap. He turned to leave, to run, but it was too late. Time was already freezing around him.

“Dr. Bubby…”

The sinister voice sent a shiver down his spine. His knuckles went white around his cane. Slowly, he turned around. He knew what he would find when he did, but it still made his eyes go wide.

“Impossible. That’s… that’s fucking impossible. We killed you, you’re dead! You’re fucking dead!”

“Y’wanna bank on it, gramps?” Ben sneered.

Bubby staggered back, barely managing to stay up. After a moment, he was able to speak.

“What do you want from me.”

Ben drifted closer, reveling in how Bubby cringed away from them. Their tone was sickly sweet as they responded.

“C’mon man… what if I’m just here to uh… catch up? Hang out?”

“Cut the shit, Ben,” he snarled.

“Wow, agressive, damn. Fine. M’ here for you to fulfill that favor you owe me.”

Bubby crossed his arms over his chest. “What do you want.”

Ben began to circle, like a beast about to strike. 

“Well, y’see, I’ve run into a bit of a problem since I’ve come back into town,” they said. “You’ve probably noticed the uh… wall ‘round the town. No matter what I do, it doesn’t wanna let me out.”

“Get to the fucking point.”

“I’m gettin’ there! As I was saying… you n’ your little crew are probably already trying t’ break that thing, yeah?”

“That’s correct.”

“Well, I need to know the ins n’ outs of it all. All th’ details. And I’m gettin’ real tired of the body I have to use right now.”

“What are you getting at…?”

“I’m sure your ‘nephew’ gets to know all the nitty-gritty, doesn’t he?”

Bubby felt his body go cold. His hands tightened around his cane once more. 

“You stay the fuck away from Gordon.”

“I would, but… I don’t want to.”

“I’m not helping you hurt him, you piece of shit.”

“Now, hold on, hold on. Don’t you remember how I helped you? I brought back your best friend.” They held up a hand, and a photograph of Coomer appeared in it. “It’d be a shame if something happened to him.”

They crushed the photo in their hand, eye glowing brightly.

“Do you think he could last another 30 years?”

Bubby could feel the tears beginning to rise in his throat, and it took everything he had to swallow them down. His hands were shaking. As he stared at the crumpled photo of Coomer, he knew what he had to do.

Resigned, he lowered his head.

“What do you need me to do.”

Gordon walked through the woods, keeping a few strides ahead of Benrey. His thoughts grumbled through his head, all focused on the person walking behind him.

Twenty minutes prior, Bubby had sent them both out to gather supplies for Coomer.

“I’m not fucking doing it,” he’d said. “With my bad leg? One tree root and I’m wiping the fuck out. You two are young and spry, now get to it.”

“But why do I have to go with THEM?” Gordon had whined.

“Because you need to learn to get along. Shit, Freeman, you’re not in high school anymore, cut the drama.”

Gordon had stormed out of the shack, grumbling, and found that Benrey had been listening to everything. They gave him a half-smile.

“What’s wrong, Gordo? Scared of me or somethin’?” they sneered.

He speared them with a glare and pushed past, not even bothering to make sure they were following. Throughout the walk, they’d kept trying to start a conversation with him, but he didn’t listen.

“C’mon, man, xbox or playstation? Don’t tell me you’re a pussy-ass PC gamer,” they asked him, for what felt like the tenth time. 

“Oh my god, will you just shut up? Just, shut the fuck up!” he yelled, snapping around to face them. “I can stand to walk through the woods with you, but stop trying to fucking talk to me!”

They stopped, eyes widening a bit. Taken aback. “Woah, man, okay. Calm down.”

“No, I will not calm down!”

“Fine, I’ll stop tryin’ to talk to you. Jeez. As long as you’re the one to stick your hand in all the gross places. Deal?”

“...deal,” Gordon replied, extending a hand. 

Benrey’s pupils contracted into slits, and they had to hold down a smirk. As they reached out for his hand, the woods around them were shook by a roar. 

The ground began to shake as something large moved towards them both, very quickly and very angrily. Gordon snatched his hand away, looking around wildly for the source of the noise. He moved away from the edge of the deeper woods. 

“Oh god…” 

“Whuh? What the shit is that sound?” Benrey asked, trying to keep the fear out of their voice. 

A massive, bark-covered hand emerged from the treeline, accompanied by a single glowing eye. The hand began to paw at the ground, growing ever-closer to the pair.

“It’s Steve!” Gordon was already turning tail and running. Benrey had to sprint to catch up.

“Who names a fuckin’ tree monster ‘Steve’?” they asked, voice cracking with nerves.

“Dr. Coomer,” Gordon grumbled, focusing on the path ahead.

After a few minutes of running, they slowed to a stop. Gordon looked behind them, but the path was clear. He doubled over, heaving and trying to catch his breath.

Benrey was clearly shaken. Their pupils were dilated, nearly blacking out the whole of their eyes.

“Y’sure that thing’s not gonna come lookin’ for us?” they asked.

Gordon straightened up. “Not likely. Steve probably just wanted us to leave.”

“...now what.”

“What do you mean?” he asked, turning to face them.

“We still gotta get those uhh, get the stuff.” Lipsmack. “For Coomer.”

He nodded, leaning against the trunk of a tree. After a moment, he spoke again.

“Look, this is your first time in Gravity Falls, right?”

“Whuh?”

“Exactly. I’ve been here before. I know how to deal with these cryptids. You should go, you’re gonna end up getting hurt.”   
They rolled their eyes. “Tch, trying t’get rid of me? Rudeman.”

“Listen dude, if you get mauled, it’ll be on my head. Getting you to leave me alone is just a side effect.”

“Fine, fine, jeez. I’ll go. See ya.” They pushed past him and began walking down the path, out of the woods. As soon as they turned away, their face fell into a scowl. 

_ So damn close. _

Gordon watched them stomp away, before turning to walk into the trees once more.

Over the next few days, as Coomer, Darnold, and Tommy worked on a solution to the barrier problem, Gordon kept finding himself alone with Benrey. It felt like every time he turned a corner, there they were. The small town had never felt so claustrophobic. Arcade? Benrey. Diner? Benrey. Mini-golf course? Inexplicably, Benrey. No one else around seemed to feel the same about them as Gordon did. He tried to explain to others that something about Benrey was unsettling, inhuman, just downright evil. But no one else could see it. 

As Gordon lay in bed, staring at the ceiling, thoughts raced through his head. Sleep was had been hard to come by since he returned to Gravity Falls.

_ Is it me? Am I going fucking insane? Why can’t anyone else see it? What is it about them? They’re up to something, I know it, but what am I supposed to do if everyone else trusts them? _

He sat up in bed, joints creaking as he stood. Grabbing his glasses from the side table, he made his way to the door and down the stairs. Thirsty. He was making his way back upstairs, after downing a few glasses of water, when he heard something. Stopping to listen more closely, he heard a whispered argument, coming from Bubby’s room. Everything in his body told him,  _ ignore it, go back upstairs, fall asleep and write this off as a weird dream _ . But his curiosity prevailed. 

He slowly creeped closer to the cracked bedroom door. The hardwood floors were creaky, but he knew where to step. He stopped right outside the room, closing his eyes and tilting his head to hear more clearly.

“I’m trying my best, goddamnit! Just give me more time.”

Bubby’s voice. Quick and panicked.

“I’ve already been giving you time. M’ getting impatient. You’re not trying hard enough.”

Gordon froze. A chill shot down his spine and he felt faint.

That voice. That horrible, familiar voice.

“I have to be fucking subtle about this, you know that! He’ll catch on, is that what you want?”

“You’re skating thin ice, gramps. You know what I’m capable of.”

“Please, just a few more days,” Bubby pleaded, desperate now.

“...you have two. Fourty-eight hours. Then I’m collecting what I’m owed, one way or another.”

Gordon turned tail and raced back up the stairs, knowing that Bubby would likely walk out of his room any second. As he closed his eyes, trying to force himself into sleep, two questions rang through his head.

_ That couldn’t have been who I thought it was, right? It’s impossible, isn’t it? _

The other was far more pressing.

_ If it was who I think it was… what the hell am I meant to do now? _

“Well, what do you think of it?” Darnold asked, pulling back from his microscope.

He and Tommy were sitting in the lab, where they’d spent the last few days. They’d mixed solution after solution, but none of them had any affect on the barrier cells. Tommy leaned over to look into the microscope. A few of the barrier cells had been splashed with the newest chemical bath, but they were still floating around the slide slowly, not affected. He drummed his fingers on the table, sighing.

After a moment of looking, he leaned back in his chair. “Nothing…”

Darnold shook his head, dumping the contents of the test tube into the trash can. “Scratch that one, then…”

“I-- I’m a robotics major, I don’t know how to do chemistry…” Tommy mumbled.

“I’ve never seen  _ anything _ like this before. Not through my entire doctorate degree.”

Tommy slid down in his chair. “Ugh, this is like trying to solve a rubick’s cube with monochromacy and only one hand.”

Darnold chuckled. “You got that right.”

“What do we-- we do now?” Tommy wondered aloud.

Darnold leaned back, considering. After a moment, he spoke.

“Maybe… you could ask your dad to look at it?”

“Huh? Why would he know-- know what to do?”

“Well, maybe he’s seen something like it before. When he was still…” He gestured vaguely skyward.

“Maybe… I-I’ll call him.” Tommy pulled out his phone and walked to another room of the lab. Mayor Coolatta picked up on the fourth ring, like he always did.

“Son. Why are you, calling me? You, do not often, call my ‘cellular phone.’”

“Hi, dad. These barrier cells have me and-- and Darnold stumped. Do you think you might be able to come look at them? He thought you may’ve seen something like-- similar to them when you were still off-planet.”

“Hm. I think I can find, some time. To stop by the shack.”

“Thanks.” Tommy hung up, sticking the phone back in his pocket. He walked back into the lab and sat down. “He’s on his way.”

“Good.”

Not ten minutes later, the mayor walked down the stairs, stooping to avoid hitting his head on the doorframe. He silently walked up behind Darnold and Tommy. 

“Good afternoon.”

Darnold jumped. “Ah! H-Hello, Mr. Coolatta.”  _ How can someone so tall be so quiet? _

“Hey, dad,” Tommy said, smiling.

Mr. Coolatta leaned in to examine the slide, considering it carefully. 

“No, I don’t believe. I’ve seen anything like, this, before,” he said, with a sigh. “However,” he added after a moment of thinking, “I had some, quite volatile substances, that I. Had to leave on the ship, when I first landed.”

“You-- You think they might still be there?” Tommy asked.

“There is a small chance. I cannot, guide you to them, however. The townsfolk grow increasingly, anxious, with. The state of things. I must stay to keep the peace.”

“Well, if you tell us what we’re-- what we need to look for, I’m sure we can find it.”

Darnold put his hands up. “Hold on. I have to man the register. Bubby is already annoyed that I’m spending so much time down here.”  _ And I don’t particularly want to go looking for “volatile substances” in a wrecked spaceship. _

“Ah…” Tommy considered. “Well, I-- I’m sure Gordon’s free to help!”

“You go find him,” Darnold said, “I’ll clean things up down here.”

The Coolattas made their way upstairs, Tommy questioning his father to know what to look for once inside the ship. 

Tommy found Gordon in his room, pouring over Coomer’s old journals. He rapped lightly on the doorframe.

“Mr. Freeman?”

Gordon looked up, quickly tossing the journal aside like he had something to hide.

“Yeah? What’s up, bud?” he asked.

“...I--I need to go back to the ship to look for something that might break the barrier. Dad can’t take me, and I’d rather-- I don’t think it would be a good idea to go alone.”

“Oh, um… okay. I dunno, last time I was in there I almost got Coomer kidnapped.”

“Oh, don’t worry about the-- the security! Dad taught me how to disable it.”

“Well, I guess I could help.” Gordon stood up, giving the journal a glance before following Tommy out of the room.

Only a few people were outside as they made their way through town. It was an overcast Sunday, not the most ideal weather for a walk. As they were about to step off the last sidewalk before the woods, a voice called out to them.

“Yo, Tommy. Gordon. Where you guys going?”

_ God, of course it’s them. It’s always them. _ Gordon only turned his head, waiting for Tommy to answer that.

“We’re… going to get something for-- for Dr. Coomer,” Tommy replied.

“Can I help?” Benrey asked.

Tommy and Gordon shared a glance. Gordon grabbed his sleeve and tugged it, cueing him to lean down.

“We can’t have them knowing about the ship. They might tell people,” he whispered.

“But it’ll go faster with more-- more people… and the less time we spend in the wreck, the better,” Tommy said.

“But…” Gordon searched for another excuse. But he couldn’t find one. “Fine.”

Tommy turned back around to face them, smiling. “Of course you can help!”

“Cool.” They began to follow close behind. Gordon could tell, without looking, that they were staring at him.

It took about an hour of walking before they reached the crest of Gravity Falls’ hill. The sun was starting its descent, and a sweet summer wind ruffled the grass. Tommy kneeled on the ground, fiddling with a strange metal trapdoor.

“Whuh?” Benrey watched, confused. “What’s that?”

“...do you believe in-- in aliens, Benrey?” Tommy asked.

“That’s a… weird way to answer that question. But uh… sure, I guess.”

Tommy flipped the trapdoor open, shining a flashlight inside. A rusted ladder led down, deep into the hill. 

“Welcome to Crash Site Omega,” Tommy said, a hint of pride in his voice.

Benrey’s eyes went wide. “Yooo, real shit? You’re not fuckin’ with me?” they asked, leaning down to get a closer look.

“Yep! Watch your-- your step, the ladder’s old.” Tommy handed the flashlight off to Gordon, beginning to climb down.

Benrey followed after, whispering “fucking poggers” under their breath. Gordon rolled his eyes, following them down. The ladder led to a large antichamber, made of rusted platinum with vines creeping between the panels. Runes and symbols were inlaid on the walls, and a long control panel covered in buttons stood a few feet away from the base of the ladder. By the time Gordon had his feet on the floor, Tommy was already fiddling with the buttons. The lights flicked on with a dull thrum, dim white glow filling the room. 

“Now then, we can start looking,” he said.

“What are we looking for?” Benrey asked, still looking around at the room.

“First, we need to find the-- the weapons’ storage. Then we can look for specifics.”

“Do we split up?” they asked.

“That will be faster…”

“How about you and Benrey go together, since you know the ship best. I can handle myself,” Gordon said. It was a ploy, of course. He didn’t want to end up alone with Benrey again.   
“Okay!” Tommy turned back to the control panel. “Just let me disable the security.”

As soon as Tommy had his back turned, Benrey turned a glare on Gordon. It was momentary, but it sent a chill through him. There wasn’t malice in the stare; rather, a cold, calculated, lack of emotion. And somehow, that was far more terrifying.

“I’m gonna go ahead and start looking around,” Gordon said, leaving the room before either of the others could respond. He needed to get away.

The ship was just how he remembered it, covered in ivy and slowly rusting. His footsteps echoed down the hallways, and the flashlight shook in his hand. All the floors slanted to the side, making walking quickly near-impossible. 

“Where is that damn weapons room…” he muttered under his breath. 

All the doors were marked and labeled, but he couldn’t read the script. It would have to be by sight, then. He peeked into the first open room, cringing at the sight of walls splattered with a viscous, yellow blood. Clearly not the room he was looking for. The next open room was full of crates, presumably filled with food or other supplies. The next was more of the same. He was about to try to move down a level when Tommy’s voice echoed down the hall.

“Mr. Freeman! We-- We found it!”

“Finally…” Gordon turned and went back the way he came.

When he caught up with the other two, they were carefully looking around the weapons room. Benrey was handing bottles off to Tommy, who read the labels. 

“Hey guys,” Gordon said, “any luck yet?”

“Not yet,” Tommy replied.

“What are we looking for?”

“My- Dr. Coomer said it-- it was blue.”

Gordon began rooting around the shelves, making sure to not break anything. Whatever it was in those vials, he didn’t want it touching him. After a few minutes, he found a vial of light blue liquid. The label was written in the same alien script, but judging by the amount of skulls and x’s on it, it was promising. He handed it off to Tommy.

“Yes, this-- this is it! Good work, Mr. Freeman.”

Gordon nodded. “Let’s just get out of here.”

Tommy slipped the vial into the bag that he brought, and started back up the ladder. Gordon went next, tailed by Benrey.

“I’m uh, likin’ the view from back here,” Benrey remarked, with a harsh laugh. It took all Gordon had not to kick them in the face.

On the walk back into town, he couldn’t shake the feeling that menacing, inhuman glare gave him. It felt like a threat.

With the vial acquired, the lab underneath the shack had kicked into high gear. It was all hands on deck, one pair specifically. Benrey had been especially interested in the proceedings, despite hardly walking down into the lab. They spent most of their time in the shack’s gift shop, much to Gordon’s chagrin. His temper was coming to a boil, and he was about to snap.

After the shack was closed and everyone had gone home, he cornered Bubby in the kitchen.

“Why are you letting Benrey just hang around all the time?” he asked.

Bubby raised an eyebrow. “Why wouldn’t I? It’s a fucking buisness, Freeman. Customers are allowed inside.”

“You know what I mean.”   
“I really don’t. Shit, I’m not a mindreader.”

“I thought Mr. Coolatta wanted to keep this all hush-hush to avoid panic! And now you’re just letting them know everything we’re doing?” Gordon asked, voice beginning to rise.

“They’ve been helping!”

“They’re a complete stranger!”

Bubby set his glass of water down, rather roughly, and turned to face Gordon.

“What is all this about, Freeman? What in the hell did Benrey do to get you so riled up?” he asked, crossing his arms.

Gordon opened his mouth to answer, but no excuses came. After a moment, he decided to tell the truth.

“...I’m scared of them. Something about them just gets to me,” he admitted.

Bubby’s expression softened.

“Why didn’t you just fucking say that to begin with?” he asked.

Gordon shrugged.

“...I’ll see what I can do about it. Okay?” Bubby’s tone was full of concern.

Gordon nodded, turning around and walking up to his bedroom. As soon as he left, Bubby’s face fell. His time was almost up, and the time for subtlety was long gone. Picking up his glass of water, he turned to walk into his bedroom, to once again face down the demon.

The next morning, Gordon woke up to the sound of Benrey’s voice, coming from the gift shop. He felt his blood beginning to boil, and quickly got dressed. When he arrived downstairs, Bubby was there to intercept him before he made it to the shop. Gordon glared up at him.

“Why are they still here,” he deadpanned.

“I was waiting for you to come downstairs,” Bubby replied.

“Why?”

“I needed to talk to both of you. In private.”

“Fine…” Gordon grumbled, walking into Bubby’s small office to wait.

A few moments later, Benrey walked in, followed by Bubby. He closed the door behind the two of them, the click of the lock echoing through the tense silence.

“What’s this about,” Gordon said, leveling a glare at Benrey.

Bubby crossed his arms.

“Benrey has agreed to stay out of the Shack, if you’re civil to them outside of it. You don’t have to be best fucking friends, just be civil. Deal?”

Gordon considered. Gravity Falls was a small town, yes, but there were plenty of ways to avoid someone. And he’d have his safe haven back. It wasn’t the best case scenario, but hell, it was better than nothing.

“Deal,” Gordon replied.

“Good. Now shake hands and we can forget about all this.”

“Deal,” Benrey said, extending a hand. 

Gordon took their hand. A laugh began to rise from their chest, eyes starting to glow. Their harsh laughter filled the small room, and Gordon realized he couldn’t pull away. Their long nails dug into the skin of his hand, hard enough to draw blood. He began to feel faint. He looked over at Bubby for help, eyes wide, desperate. His heartbeat hammered in his ears.

Bubby met his eyes. He looked away.

Gordon screamed as his soul was ripped from his body. In the space between planes, he saw exactly what he was expecting, and what he hoped not to find. Ben met his eyes as they moved from one body to another. 

Gordon and Benrey fell to the hardwood floor with a flash. Gordon was the first to rise, opening his eyes with a smirk. They were bright yellow.

As “Gordon” left the room, to rejoin the others in the shack, Bubby turned around. He looked up, where he knew the real Gordon was watching the scene. Even though Bubby couldn’t see him, he tried to meet his eyes.   
“I’m sorry, Gordon,” he said, “I didn’t have a choice.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Similar to Bipper (when Dipper got possessed in the Sock Opera episode), "Gordon" will be referred to by the narration as "Bendon" for the foreseeable future to avoid confusion. Bendon uses they/them pronouns.


	5. Chapter Four: Missed Connections: Gamestop

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> As Gordon's soul drifts aimlessly through Gravity Falls, his body is causing chaos with no one the wiser. Meanwhile, a stranger wakes up in the shack, finding himself in the care of Coomer and the others. Tensions are heightening, and a fight is brewing. The lines are blurring, and sides are hard to take when people don't wear their own faces.

Chapter Four: _Missed Connection: Gamestop_

Our setting: _Gravity Falls, OR. Now surrounded by a mysterious wall._

Our cast of characters:

  * _Gordon Freeman, age 27, untethered soul._


  * _Bendon [REDACTED], age [REDACTED], possessed husk._


  * _Barney Morales, age 29, Gamestop employee with anesthesia._


  * _Tommy Coolatta, age 36, mayor’s son._


  * _Dr. Bubby [REDACTED], age 73, owner of the Mystery Shack._


  * _Dr. Harold P. Coomer, age 71, retired physicist._


  * _Darnold Pepper, age 38, employee at the Mystery Shack._


  * _Forzen Nice, age 44, employee at the Mystery Shack._


  * _Mayor Coolatta, age [REDACTED], Gravity Falls mayor._


  * _Sunkist, a pig._



  
  


To be an untethered soul is to be damned. To be lost. Gordon had resigned himself to drift, condemned to losing himself.  
It had been days. Weeks? He wasn’t sure. He learned quickly that no one was able to hear him, or see him. No one except Ben. And he’d already yelled himself hoarse berating them. Now he floated around the town, watching the townspeople go about their days.

He had drifted into the Coolatta house for what felt like the hundredth time, opting for Tommy’s room. He watched as Tommy re-read one of his favorite books. 

“Hey, I like that book too. I used to read it all the time when I was in middle school,” Gordon said aloud.

Tommy’s eyes glinted. They began to glow a dull yellow, and he looked up abruptly. 

“Mr. Freeman?”

Gordon opened his mouth to speak, but it took a few moments before he was able to.

“T-Tommy? You can hear me?” he stuttered.

Tommy’s eyes glowed a brighter yellow.

“Mr. Freeman! It-- it is you!”

“How can you hear me? I’ve been trying to talk to someone for days!”

Tommy put his book down and stood up, looking around for Gordon.

“It’s so faint… or maybe I--I’m just rusty at mind reading. But this doesn’t make sense… I saw you an hour ago at the Shack, I shouldn’t be able to read your mind from this distance.”

“Tommy,” Gordon said, “you have to listen. That wasn’t me. It hasn’t been me for days!”

“What? That doesn’t-- I don’t understand.”

“I’m not quite sure what happened myself… one moment, I was shaking hands with Ben, and the next, I was watching my body walk out of the office. I think… I think they stole it. They took my body.”

“Wait! So you’re just a-- a soul? Just floating up there?”

“Seems so.”

Tommy tapped his fingers on the bed, thinking. His eyes were still glowing a bright yellow.

“If Ben can take control of-- of a body, maybe… you can too?”

Gordon’s eyebrows disappeared into his hairline. “What?”

“Just until you get-- you can get your body back. I-- I’m sure Dr. Coomer and everyone else will be able to help you, but they can’t do that if they can’t hear you.”

“I guess you have a point… but I doubt there’s any soulless bodies walking around Gravity Falls.”

“Maybe not, but maybe it doesn’t have to be a body-- a human body? Or even a living creature?”

Gordon crossed his arms. “What are you getting at here.”

Tommy gestured sheepishly to something on his bed.

“...you have got to be kidding me.”

The last thing that Barney Morales remembered was passing out in his shitty studio apartment. Hardwood floor coming at his face fast, a searing pain in the head, and then nothing. He’d spent the past few days in a faded daze. As he opened his eyes, the light that hit them stung like hell. He blinked a few times, trying in vain to get his eyes to focus. It took a few seconds before he could properly see the face of the man leaning over him.

Well. That was unexpected.

He’d expected a doctor, or a nurse, but instead he was being stared down by an older man with thinning white hair and a turtleneck sweater. The man smiled, the expression obscured by a thick mustache.

“Hello, Benrey!”

Barney sat up, groaning. His head throbbed in time with his heartbeat. A million questions crowded his mind. Who are you? Where am I? What happened? Has anyone been feeding my cat? But he could only manage one.

“What…?”

“How are you feeling? You’ve been out for a while,” the stranger asked.

“I… sorry, who are you? Am I in a hospital?” Barney’s head was starting to clear.

The man’s eyebrows shot up. Without another word, he left the room. Barney leaned to peek out of the doorframe, where the man was speaking quietly with another person. This one was tall and slender, with sharp features and a pair of square glasses that took up half his face. Barney only managed to catch a few words of their anxious conversation. _Serious -- memory loss -- concussion._ After a few moments, the both of them entered the room.

“Benrey, are you sure you don’t remember my name? Do you even remember coming to Gravity Falls?” the shorter of the two asked.

“I’m sorry, but, I have no idea who you are.”

“Damn, how hard did you hit your fucking head? What could’ve knocked a whole week of memory out of you?” the taller asked, his voice as severe as his appearance.

Barney rubbed one of his temples. “Look, the last thing I remember is passing out in my apartment after work. I don’t recognize either of you, and I don’t have any idea where I am!” He could feel himself starting to panic, and his headache worsened.

“Stop fucking yelling.”

The shorter man shot his companion a look. He turned back to Barney.

“Benrey, my name is Dr. Harold Coomer. And this is Bubby. You’re in the Mystery Shack, where we live.”

 _Fuck kinda name is Bubby?_ The thought was fleeting, as more important things quickly took precedent. 

“How long have I been out?” Barney asked.

“A few days,” Coomer replied.

A few days. That felt right. Next: his cat. He patted the pockets of his hoodie, but his phone was nowhere to be found in it. 

“Can I use your phone?”

Coomer and Bubby shared a look.

“Yeah, I guess. Just don’t call anyone weird,” Bubby replied.

Once the landline was brought to him, it took Barney a few moments to remember the number. He punched it in and brought the phone to his ear.

“C’mon, pick up…” he muttered.

A click.

“Hello?” The voice on the other end was clipped and slightly nasally.

“Hey, Robyn. It’s me.”

“Barney? Holy shit, man, where have you been? Kyla is gonna fire your ass if you don’t call her! You’ve never skipped out on shifts before, what the fuck is going on?”

“Listen mate, I don’t have time to explain right now. I don’t really know myself, to be honest. I just need you to feed my cat until I get back. You still have one of my spare keys, right?”

“Well yeah, but--”

“Good. She should have enough food to last a few days.”

“Dude, where are you? When are you getting back?”

“...I don’t know.”

“What the fuck do you mean you don’t KNOW? You can’t just--”

“I can’t keep talking right now. Keep Kyla off my ass if you can.”

“Barney Smith Morales, I swear to god--”

“I have to go.”

He hung up the phone, wanting to get off the call as soon as possible. Coomer and Bubby were watching him intently, and he was starting to sweat under the attention. He handed the landline back to Bubby.

“Thanks.”

“Who was that?” Bubby asked.

“A friend from work. They can take care of my cat until I get home.”

“Why didn’t you set up a fucking pet sitter before you left? People aren’t usually in that much of a rush to visit Gravity Falls.”

“I already told you guys!” Barney was beginning to get frustrated. “I don’t remember coming here! I don’t even know how long I’ve been gone.”

Coomer laid a hand on his shoulder.

“Calm down, Benrey. You need rest. Becoming angry will just exacerbate your injuries.”

“...what did you just call me?”

“Your name, of course! Benrey.”

Barney rooted around in his pockets, sighing in relief when his hand landed on the familiar leather of his wallet. He pulled it out, fingers shaking slightly as he pulled a card out.

A driver’s license. He held it up for the both of them to see.

“My name is Barney. Barney Morales.”

Coomer and Bubby shared a look of bewilderment. Had they been saying it wrong this whole time? Why did ~~Benrey~~ Barney look just as confused as they were? 

The phone rang, still sitting in Bubby’s lap. He picked up the receiver before the first ring ended.

“Hello? Hell, I was just about to call you! Mhm. Yeah. Us too. Right away.”

Click.

Bubby turned to Coomer.

“Tommy’s on his way. He says he’s got a situation, sounded fucking urgent.”

“Who?” Barney asked.

Coomer shot him a look. “We’ll have to reintroduce you two.”

It only took five minutes before there was a knock on the shack’s back door. Bubby went to answer it, and a few moments later Tommy walked into the room. Barney waved.

“How are-- are you feeling?” Tommy asked, sitting down on the edge of the couch. 

“Head hurts…” Barney replied.

“How much do you remember?”

Barney sighed. “I don’t even remember coming here… I don’t know any of you.”

“Well… I’m Tommy. Tommy Coolatta.”

“Barney Morales.”

Bubby walked back into the room, crossing his arms and leaning against a wall. “Well, this is our fucking ‘situation,’” he said, throwing up air quotes. “What’s yours?”

Tommy turned to face Bubby and Coomer.

“So… you know how Gordon has been-- hasn’t been acting like himself recently?” Tommy asked.

“I guess.” Bubby seemed confused at the sudden change in topic.

“That’s because it’s not Gordon.”

“Pardon the fuck?”

“What do you mean by that, Tommy?” Coomer asked.

“It’s hard to explain, so I-- I’ll just let him explain himself.”

Tommy reached into his bag and pulled out a small stuffed bear. He placed it on the coffee table. It was about half a foot tall, with a tuft of hair poking up between its two round ears.

Bubby levelled him with a look.

“Really?”

Tommy held his hands up in a _Trust me, alright?_

The bear stood up. It looked up at Bubby and Coomer.

“Alright. This is gonna be complicated.”

Gordon’s voice.

It took Bubby a full minute to regain his speech.

“Ho. Ly. Shit.”

“Alright, let me see if I have this correct.”

Coomer leaned back into the well-worn armchair, running a hand through his sparse hair. Tommy, Barney, Bubby, and Gordon looked at him expectantly. It had been an hour of frantic talking and recounting, over and over.

“You--” he pointed to Barney, “You are a completely different person than Benrey, the person who has been hanging around here for the past week. And you don’t remember anything from that week.”

Barney nodded.

“And this whole time, you were being controlled by--”

“Ben.” Bubby cut Coomer off, crossing his arms. “Who is somehow not dead.”

“Thank you, Bubby.” Coomer pointed to Gordon. “And you are Gordon’s soul, currently possessing a small stuffed bear.”

Gordon shrugged. “It was all Tommy had on hand.”

“And the person who now looks like Gordon is actually Ben, using Gordon’s body.”

Gordon nodded.

“This is getting-- This is confusing. Hold on. How about you’re Gordon,” Tommy said, pointing to the bear, “the person who looks like Gordon is now Bendon, and you’re Barney.” 

“I’ve been Barney.”

“Yes, but we didn’t know that,” Coomer commented.

“So,” Gordon turned to look up at Barney, still lying on the couch, “You really can’t remember anything? Any of us?”

“Well… I remember you,” Barney replied.

“What?”

“You are Gordon Freeman, right? Intern at Black Mesa, former student at MIT?”

“How do you know that?”

“You come into the Gamestop I work at a lot. We’ve chatted.” Barney rubbed the back of his neck as he spoke, anxious.

“Oh, yeah! I remember now, how’ve you been, man?”

Barney looked around the room.

“...not great.”

“...right.”

Coomer stood up. 

“If Ben is indeed alive,” he said, voice grave, “we need to protect the shack. I’ll find my old journal, refamiliarize myself with the protection spell. The runes… have since slipped my mind. Barney, Tommy, Gordon, you’ll have to go retrieve the unicorn hair.”

Barney sat up straighter. “The what?”

“Tommy will explain. Bubby, I need you to help me find my journal.”

“Fine.” 

“Alright! Let’s get down to business.”

Tommy led Barney out of the room, explaining the cryptids to him. Coomer left to search through the storage room. Bubby was about to follow, but Gordon spoke up.

“Bubby, wait. I need to talk to you.”

Bubby froze. He didn’t turn. “...what about?”

“Look at me.”

“Fuck’s sake, Freeman, just spit it out.”

“...why did you help them.”

A chill ran down his spine. “I-I don’t know what the hell you’re talking about.”

“You knew what you were setting me up for! You said ‘I didn’t have a choice.’ What the fuck did you mean you didn’t have a choice? There were probably a million other choices!”

“I owed them a favor!” Bubby finally turned to face him.

“So you just let them have their way with me?”

“The stakes were too fucking high, Freeman! I didn’t have another option!”

“Too high? What the fuck could they possibly have been! How the fuck are you trying to justify this to yourself?”

“It was Harold’s fucking life! I couldn’t send him back into that hellhole!”

“...what?”

“...I owed them a favor because they helped me build the portal. They helped me bring him back. And they threatened to send him back if I didn’t help.”

“But… why me?”

“I don’t know, Gordon. I really don’t know. Please don’t tell anyone… he’d never forgive me.”

Gordon crossed his arms, thinking. 

“Fine,” he finally said, “I won’t tell. I don’t forgive you, but I won’t tell.”

Bubby sighed in relief. “Thank you, Gordon.”

“Just go help Coomer so we can get this place secured.”

With that, Gordon was the only one left in the room.

“I can’t believe this.”

Barney had to walk quickly to keep up with Tommy’s long strides. Gordon was back in his bag, peeking out. 

“I-- I know it’s a little hard to imagine.”

“Not only are all these cryptids _real_ , but they’re all in the middle of bumfuck nowhere, Oregon?”

“Well, they’re not only here,” Gordon interjected from the bag, “they’re just congregated here.”

“But why?”

“That’s what Coomer-- Dr. Coomer was researching all those years.”

“Did he figure it out?”

Tommy shook his head. “He couldn’t figure out a unifying theory. Maybe it was something to do with Crash Site Omega-- the ufo.”

“Pardon the fuck?”

Gordon chuckled. “We’ll have to get to that later. We’re here.”

Before them lay a towering golden door, with pink gems embedded in it. It closed off a small wall, made of dark stone. Every part of it was shiny and pristine. Tommy slowly approached the door, hesitating before knocking on it twice. It slowly swung open, groaning on its hinges. Barney and Gordon shared a look as they walked inside. Beyond the door was a small glade, with a river running through it and a few trees, whose roots criss-crossed the overgrown grass. The entire scene was ripped straight from a Lisa Frank notebook, and everything was on 100% saturation. 

“Jesus…” Barney raised a hand to shield his eyes, looking around. His eyebrows went up when he noticed the gaunt horse resting on a rock near the river.

Wait, no. Not a horse. A single, twisting horn grew from its head, and it was bright sky blue.

Barney watched, slack-jawed, as Tommy slowly approached the unicorn.

He cleared his throat. “Um… excuse me? Miss-- um, Mister…” 

The unicorn opened its eyes and straightened up, backing away from the three of them.

“What are you doing in here? We don’t take kindly to humans here.”

“Holy shit, you can talk?” Barney exclaimed, then quickly shut his mouth.

“Watch your language, young man!” The unicorn moved from its rock and stepped over the river, walking towards Barney. He shrunk back.

“I… sorry. I don’t usually run into many horses that can talk.”

“I am a _unicorn_. And I’m probably smarter than you are. Now, tell me what you’re doing here.”

“...ow, okay. Apparently they need a lock of your hair.”

“Oh, of _course_. Didn’t get enough the first time?”

“Don’t ask me, man. I’m new here.”

The unicorn glared. “Very well. Before I give you a lock of my mane, I must look into your heart to see if you are worthy of it!”

“Alright? I guess that’s reasonable…”

The unicorn pointed its horn towards Barney’s chest, and the horn began to glow. Tommy and Gordon watched intently. 

It reared back, backing away from Barney with a look of horror painted across its face.

“Something… something horrible has corrupted you. Its dark mark remains on your heart. You’re hardly human anymore.”

Tommy stepped in. 

“Yes, and that horrible thing is-- is why we need the hair. It’s for a protection spell.”

“Just take it and leave! Never return!”

The unicorn ripped a lock of its mane out with its teeth, nearly throwing it at them. Tommy thanked it and they left, but Barney couldn’t help but look back at it as the door closed. On the walk back to the shack, his thoughts were racing.

_That… That was just to get us to leave. It just wanted a reason to kick us out. I’m fine, Coomer said so. I’m fine. Everything’s fine._

But he couldn’t help but notice that neither Tommy nor Gordon would look him fully in the eyes.

The hair was just enough to create the necessary force field around the shack. As soon as Coomer finished wrapping the strands around the outside wall, it glowed. The whole of the woods lit up with a blinding flash of rainbow, before settling back into its usual hues. Coomer stood up, satisfied. 

“That should do it! Now we are protected.”

“Y’sure?” Barney walked around the perimeter of the shack. “I don’t feel anything.”

“It only affects Ben, my boy! Anything else can come and go with ease.”

“We used it the last time we had to fight them,” Gordon said, perched on Tommy’s shoulder.

“The last time? What d’you mean?” 

All of them shared a look.

“Right, you weren’t here for that… well, if we are to fight them again you should probably know.” Gordon directed Tommy to walk inside, and the rest of them followed. Once inside, Tommy sat on the couch and placed Gordon on the arm of it. Barney sat down in the armchair and leaned forwards, eager to listen.

“It all started ten years back, when I came to stay here for the summer,” Gordon began. “My parents sent me here to stay with Bubby, and I quickly noticed that this town wasn’t exactly normal. There were a few close calls, but it didn’t get bad until Bubby built a portal to the nightmare realm. Coomer had been stuck there for decades, due to a mishap when it was first built. Coomer did get back successfully, and the portal was destroyed, but… it left a rift. A hole in reality, if you will. Ben slowly started seeping into our world from theirs, appearing in our dreams, all to try and tear the rift open. Coomer and I managed to patch it, but it…” Gordon looked over at Tommy, who gave him a quick, desperate glance. “...got broken anyways. Ben managed to get into our world, and quickly brought down hell. Weirdmageddon, they called it.”  
“Bizzaremageddon would’ve been better,” Barney remarked.

“Not important. With the help of some of the local cryptids, we were able to stop it and send Ben back to where they came from for good. Or… so we thought.”

“Barney, how _did_ you end up mixed up in all this mess?” Coomer asked.

“Ah, well… I’m not sure,” Barney admitted. “I got back to my place after a shift, and I was ready to crash. Had to shower first, though. When I got into my bathroom, there was some kinda portal in the wall. At first I thought I was just tired and stressed, but I blinked and it was still there. It’s all kinda a blur after that…”

“But why you?” Coomer asked, mostly to no one. 

Barney could only shrug. “All I know is, that thing is pure evil. Sharing a brain with them was hell. They have plans, big plans. And the sooner we get rid of them, the better.”

“They had plans the last time they showed up, too. The world is in danger if they get past that barrier. Thankfully, it doesn’t seem like they know how to do that at the moment,” Gordon said.

“That might-- may be so, Mr. Freeman, but as much as they’re locked in here with us--”

Tommy was interrupted by a noise from outside. A rhythmic thudding.

“...we’re locked in-- in here with them, too.”

They all walked outside to investigate the strange sound.  
As they got closer, they could hear it more clearly. Not thudding, no -- knocking. Knock, knock, knock.

“Oh, Coomer…” 

Gordon felt sick, hearing his own voice coming from around the corner. There they were, hands pressed up against the barrier, furious smile across their face.

“What’s all this, then?” Bendon asked, their voice clipped and carefully controlled.

“You know full well what it is, Ben. You’ve seen this protection spell before,” Coomer replied.

“So you finally got wise. I see. You think a bit of hair can keep you safe? Keep me away? You’re still an idiot.” Bendon backed away from the barrier, smirking. 

“I have nothing but time, old man. You can’t stay in there forever.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the wait, all.


	6. Chapter Five: Scientists Sequestered

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bendon won't let them rest, and they're quickly running out of time. Coomer is starting to notice Bubby's strange behavior, while Gordon and Tommy work feverishly to find a solution to the town barrier. The final battle is coming fast, and it doesn't care if they're ready or not. All they can do now is brace themselves and pray.
> 
> TW: Allusions to self harm and suicide. (No joke, please skip this chapter if you need to)

Chapter Five:  _ Scientists Sequestered _

**TW: Allusions to self harm and suicide.**

It only took a day for Bendon to start getting impatient. They paced the perimeter of the barrier, knocking on it every hour of the day. Inside the shack, the group was slowly going mad. Bubby spent his time pacing the floor, Coomer reread his old journals, and Gordon and Tommy spent their time in the underground lab, trying to figure out the town wall. 

On the third day, Bubby awoke to a familiar knocking outside. He poured a cup of strong coffee an stepped out onto the porch, levelling his gaze at the figure in the yard.

“Don’t you sleep or something?” he asked, taking a sip from his mug.

Bendon glared at him. 

“Unlike you, disgusting human, I’m not gonna run out of energy. I don’t need sleep. I don’t need food. I’ll never rest.”

Bubby rolled his eyes. “Yeah, yeah, give it a fuckin’ rest. Besides. You may not need sleep, but that body you’re in definitely does.”

“It doesn’t matter. I can overcome this body’s stupid needs,” they snapped. Even as they did, they were fighting to keep their eyes open.

“Listen, I don’t give a shit about you. In the slightest. But I do care about that body you’re in, so get some sleep. For Gordon’s sake.”

A sick smile spread across Bendon’s face.

“...sure, why not. For Gordon.” 

They backed into the woods, never taking their eyes off of him until they disappeared into the trees. He drank the rest of his coffee and walked back into the shack, placing the mug in the sink. Coomer was sitting at the kitchen table with a bowl of cereal.

“Good morning, Bubby!”

“Morning, Coomer.”

“Enjoying the sunrise?”

Bubby sat down in the chair across from Coomer. “Something like that.”

“Is something the matter?”   
“...it’s nothing. Just tired.”

Coomer sighed, shaking his head. “You know, you’ve always been a terrible liar.”

“What? No I haven’t.”

“Just tell me what’s wrong.”

Bubby hesitated, deciding wether or not to dodge the question once more. “Bendon is gone.”   
“Why, that’s great news!” Coomer paused, registering Bubby’s grave tone and even graver facial expression. “Isn’t it?”

“I mean, yes, but it doesn’t make any sense. Why would they just up and leave? They must be planning something.”

Coomer placed a hand on his shoulder.

“Best not to worry about it. We can’t do much until we know what they’re up to.”   
“I suppose.”

Both of them turned their heads at the hiss of the vending machine opening. Tommy walked out from behind it, rubbing his eyes. This was unusual. Most days, he was the first one up, sometimes before the sun.

“Good morning, Tommy!” Coomer said, abandoning his stormy expression in favor of a smile.

“Morning…” Tommy’s voice was sleepy.

“You slept in,” Bubby noted.

“Yeah…” he replied, pouring a cup of coffee. “Gordon and I were up late.”

“Did you boys find out anything of note?” Coomer asked.

“No-- not really. Working with alien materials is harder than I thought it would be.”

“But shouldn’t you have an edge on it? After all, you’re… well.”

Tommy sighed. “I was born on Earth, D-Dr. Coomer. I’ve never even seen dad’s planet.”

“Ah, that’s right. Perhaps you can call your father and ask him for assistance.”

“Believe me, we’ve tried,” came a tired voice from the other side of the room.

The other three turned around to see Gordon, having finally left the lab.

“Good morning, Gordon!”

“What took you so fuckin’ long?” Bubby raised an eyebrow.

Gordon shot a look at Tommy.

“SOMEone forgot that it’s very hard to climb stairs when you’re three feet tall.”

“O-Oh no.” Tommy leaned down a bit and picked him up. “Sorry, Mr. Freeman…”

He sighed. “It’s okay…”

Tommy pulled out his phone, frowning. “Still no signal.”

“Try going outside?” Bubby offered.

“Maybe,” he replied, replacing it in his pocket and looking around. “Hey, where’s Barney?”

“He’s still fucking sleeping. Why?”

“Dad hasn’t met him yet. He might-- it might be good for him to take a look at Barney. Given his… condition.”

“I’ll go wake up our friend Barney,” Coomer said, standing up from the table.

Tommy walked out onto the front porch, holding his phone up towards the sky. A bar of signal flickered in and out, and he shook the phone in frustration.

“Come on…”

He began to walk the perimeter of the house, still holding his phone up. When he reached the entrance to the gift shop, a bar finally blinked into view. He quickly rang Mayor Coolatta.

“Hello son. Do you, need, something? It is very ‘early,’ in the morning,” his voice crackled in and out, marred by static.

“Hi dad. Gordon and I have been working in the lab for days, but we can’t-- we haven’t made any significant progress. I-I was born on Earth, so I can’t help much. Can you come over?”

“I will, try. Is that all?”

“Well… no. There’s also someone we need you to meet.”

“Whom?”

“It-- I can’t really explain over the phone. You’ll just have to see.”

“Fine. I will, be over soon.”   
“Thanks dad…” Tommy hung up the phone and rounded the corner to reenter the house. As he did, he jumped. Mayor Coolatta was standing on the back porch. He gave Tommy a nod.

“I-I always forget you can do that.”

“I apologize for, startling you. Should, I come in?”

Tommy nodded, opening the back door and walking in. Mr. Coolatta followed, ducking under the doorframe. Barney was the only one still in the kitchen, Gordon having gone back downstairs (with quite a bit of difficulty), and the other two having gone to pour over the journals. Barney craned his neck to look into the mayor’s face, standing up from the table.

“Uh… hi?”

Tommy gestured to his dad. “This is the mayor of Gravity Falls, Mr. Coolatta.”

“Oh, um, it’s nice to meet you Mr… wait, Mr. Coolatta? Isn’t that your last name?”

“This is also my dad.” Tommy smiled.

“I see. And he’s here at nine in the morning because…?”

Mr. Coolatta took a half step forwards.

“Tomathan wanted me, to meet you. He stressed. It was urgent.”

_ Holy shit his full name is Tomathan. That’s fucking hilarious. _ Barney bit his tongue to keep from laughing, and hesitated before continuing the conversation.

“Why?”

“He said it was, complicated.”

Barney shot Tommy a glance. 

“I-I’ll have to explain it to you,” Tommy said, leading his father into another room.

Barney was only able to hear a bit of their discussion, as they exchanged words with an increasingly anxious tone. As Tommy spoke, Mr. Coolatta’s eyebrows drew together, revealing the wrinkles and creases of age. They walked back into the room. Barney had sat down in a chair to wait.

“Have you been to, see a ‘doctor?’”

Barney shook his head. “Nah, I don’t think they’d understand. ‘Sides, there isn’t anything technically  _ wrong _ with me.”

“I see. Would you be, willing, to allow me to examine you?”

Barney glanced at Tommy, who gave him a reassuring smile.

“I guess.”

Mr. Coolatta nodded. “Please remain still.”

He reached forwards and placed his index finger on Barney’s forehead. His eyes glowed bright blue, and Barney’s rolled back in his head, before he slumped in the chair. 

“Dad, you-!” Tommy started, but he was cut off.

“It is easier, this way.”

“...alright.”

Mr. Coolatta began examining Barney, his occasional “hmms” and “huhs” becoming less and less frequent. His concerned expression deepened by the second. 

“What-- what is it?”

“Tommy, could you please look around. In his mind?”

“Oh, um… well, I’m not sure.”

“Please, son.”

Tommy sighed, placing his hands on either side of Barney’s head. His eyes went yellow as he concentrated. After about a minute, he stopped, and backed away.

“What did, you find?” Mr. Coolatta asked.

“...looks normal in there.”

“Are you sure?”

Tommy nodded, but the mayor couldn’t help but notice his hesitation and shaking hands.

Mr. Coolatta snapped next to Barney’s ear, causing him to jolt upright. His eyes opened wide as he tried to understand what just happened to him.

“What did you do.”

“Do not worry about it. Your vital signs, seem stable.”

“Stable or good?”

“...stable.”

Before Barney could ask any more questions, the mayor stood. 

“I have ‘business’ to, attend to. Good day,” he said, opening the door. He ducked under the frame, closed the door, and disappeared. There were no footsteps walking away.

“But, stable is still  _ good _ , right?” Barney asked Tommy, trying to keep the shake out of his voice.

Tommy didn’t reply.

“Harold, your notes are shit.”

Bubby threw the journal off to the side, massaging his temples. He had a screaming headache which had been present since he woke up, and the coffee didn’t help.

“I apologize, Dr. Bubby. I’m not educated as a biologist,” Coomer said.

“I don’t recall you taking better notes during lectures.”

“I passed, did I not?”

“Barely.”

Coomer leafed through the pages halfheartedly. 

“...Bubby? May I ask you something?”

Bubby hesitated before replying. “Shoot.”

“Why have you been acting strange?”

“What do you mean?” he said, voice tense.

“You’re tense, and secretive. You avoid questions and conversation. And you haven’t been sleeping. I can hear you pacing at night.”

“Shit, Harold, can you blame me? We’ve been trapped inside by a psychotic demon who’s using my nephew’s body as a puppet!”

“Alright, alright. I just wanted to make sure there wasn’t… anything else.”

“I’m just stressed. We all are.”

Coomer opened his mouth to say something else, but another sound cut him off. Tommy’s voice, from the front of the house. It was strained and anxious.

“Dr. Bubby, Dr. Coomer! Come quick, they’ve come back! Get to the gift shop!”

They dropped the journals, rushing out of the room.

Bendon stood in the center of the backyard, smiling up at them all. Tommy was already out on the porch, Gordon sitting on his shoulder. Bubby and Coomer opened the door and froze.

They were holding a knife to their throat.

“Ben, what the fuck are you doing.” Bubby’s voice shook.

“Let’s not do anything rash,” Coomer said, raising his hands in a placating gesture.

“Aw, you care.” They laughed, a grating and harsh sound. “Don’t worry. I’ll be fine. Your  _ nephew _ , however, will not. This little body of his won’t be getting back up after this.”

“Get your hands off me!” Gordon yelled.

“We’ll give you what you want, goddammit, just don’t hurt him.” Bubby stepped forwards.

“Funny you would say that,  _ professor _ ,” they sneered.

“Doctor,” he muttered under his breath.

“Dr. Bubby… what are they talking about?” Coomer placed a hand on his shoulder.

“You haven’t told them yet?” They smirked.

“Uh…”

“So you’re a coward AND a liar?” They laughed, lowering the knife. “My, my, my. And here I was, thinking you were a good person. I guess I’ll have to do it for you.” They pointed the knife accusingly in his direction. “This man, here, sold out his family to me. He’s the only reason that I’m standing here before you. You hear that? It’s all. His. Fault.”

“Bubby,” Coomer said, “how could you?”

“I can explain! I--”

“Stop.” Coomer held up a hand. “We haven’t the time. Go inside, we’ll deal with this.”

He opened his mouth to try to keep defending himself, but decided against it. Slinking into the house, he closed the door behind him.

“What do you want, Bendon.” Coomer turned back to face them.

It took another hour until they stood down. An hour of talking, and pleading, and fear. They finally stopped when Coomer offered to remove the protection spell. 

“You have 12 hours,” they warned as they walked into the woods. The knife remained on the ground, half-hidden in the long grass.

When they walked into the house, Bubby was anxiously waiting for them at the kitchen table. Wordlessly, Tommy and Gordon knew to leave them alone. They went back down to the lab as Coomer sat down at the table.

“I’m sorry,” Bubby offered, uselessly.

“Why did you do this?”

“I had my reasons. They had me backed into a corner.”

“So you betrayed your nephew?”

“He’s not your nephew!”

“Furthermore, we don’t negotiate with terrorists! You’ve put the whole damn world in jeopardy! If they manage to get out--”

“They won’t!”

“I admire your confidence.” Coomer’s voice was snide.

“What the fuck was I supposed to do! I was up against a wall!”

“What possible stakes could they have given--!”

“You, Harold!”

That shut him up. It took a moment before either spoke again.

“They threatened… you.” Bubby’s voice was shaking. “They told me that if I didn’t cooperate, they’d send you back.”

“But why…”

“You were the reason I owed them a favor. I needed their help to build the portal.” He took off his glasses, face creased in anguish. “I couldn’t lose you again.”

“...you sacrificed everything? Even the world itself? For me? Why?”

He replaced his glasses carefully on the bridge of his nose, and took a moment before he spoke. Deep breath. In, out.

“Because I’ve been in love with you since college.”

That  _ really _ shut him up. The silence that stretched between them was suffocating.

“That’s… certainly a reason.”

_ Fuck, fuck, fuck, I shouldn’t have said that. I shouldn’t have thought that. I should’ve just held it in and let it fester until I fucking died-- _

Coomer placed a hand on Bubby’s, stopping his racing thoughts.

“This was probably one of the stupidest decisions you’ve ever made.”

He cast his eyes down in shame.

“And somehow, also one of the most romantic gestures you could’ve performed.”

His gaze shot back up. “What?”

“You really should’ve told me sooner. You should’ve told me forty years ago. Then we’d have more time.”

“I know, I know…”

“...I forgive you. I’m not sure if I feel the same, but I do forgive you.” Coomer stood from the table.

Bubby followed. “I’ll take it.”

“Now come on. We have 12 hours before we have to take the protection spell down, so we have 12 hours to figure out a plan to beat that son of a bitch. You ready for one last all-nighter?”

“As ready as I’ll ever be.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> One more chapter to go, lads! The final battle. That one'll probably be nice and juicy, real long. Though I don't think any chapter'll ever be as long as the prologue.

**Author's Note:**

> Some quick notes:
> 
> Ben(rey) and Forzen both use they/them pronouns in this AU.  
> Tommy, Bubby, and Gman all use he/they pronouns.  
> Gordon, Darnold, and Dr. Coomer all use he/him pronouns.
> 
> If you want art for this AU and updates on future chapters, follow me on tumblr, @carpet_snark!
> 
> Thank you for reading, this is my first fanfiction so I apologize if it's rusty.


End file.
